Silent Hill Where We Rest
by DarkmoonFallenlord
Summary: A brutal, chilling tale of three people trapped in Silent Hill. There purpose there? To save there souls and escape the town...or loose them trying.
1. Default Chapter

**Chapter One – The Summoning.**  
  
  
The two men walked along the road. One held his hand to his head, while his smaller friend limped slightly. The taller man had long brown hair and jade green eyes. His smaller friend had blue eyes, a thin build, and most notably…short white hair.  
Turning to his friend, the smaller man said, "You know Zan, this just isn't possible. How do you loose a car?"  
Zanatos Kell shrugged. "I don't know, Merc. One minute it was there, the next…poof! Gone without a trace. This place has got to have one hell of a car thief. They didn't even start the damned engine."  
With a sigh, Mercurius looked at the town. Well, where the town was. The sign before had said, 'Silent Hill, 1 mile' but this damned fog was thicker than Zanatos when he'd first woken up in the morning, before the coffee. They couldn't see much more than twenty feet in any direction.  
The pair, still wondering where there car had gone, walked towards the town.

Sara Jenkins was very upset. First her car had been sent off the road, and now she couldn't find anyone. The whole town was empty…none of the cars would start either. When no one had answered any of desperate pleas, and her cell phone hadn't worked, she'd panicked and tried to steal a car. She had all the needed skill from a misspent adolescence of drugs, booze, and stealing stuff. But when she broke into the car, the damned thing wouldn't start. Nor the next one, or the next one. It was spooky.  
Walking past the silent houses and shops, Sara suddenly laughed. "Now I know why this place is called Silent Hill." She was still laughing when she saw someone in the fog. They we're walking away from her. "Hey, wait up!" She ran after the figure, thinking it was a little girl. Maybe she was lost, and maybe she knew what was going on here.  
The shadow in the fog ignored her. Walking away. Down an ally. Into the fog. Sara, panicking, tried to run even faster. In her hurry, she fell and tripped.  
When Sara looked up again it was night. Sara got up There was no way she'd been knocked out long enough for it to get dark, she'd been out for a few seconds at most, but the place was like midnight. She pulled a small torch out her handbag. Looking around, she couldn't tell which way she had come. She shone her light into equal blackness, then began to walk in one direction.  
As she walked, she noticed something weird was happening. A noise was coming out of nowhere. It sounded like an old World War II air raid siren. Some old nut must be playing soldiers, she thought to herself.  
But something else was happening. The walls had changed. Now they we're covered in rust. She prayed it was rust anyway, because the only other thing she could think of the being was long dry blood. A stretcher, covered in blood, it's restraints snapped lay on it's side next her. Sara gasped and leaped back. It hadn't been there a second ago.  
Then Sara felt it. A splash of something on her face. Reaching up a hand, she touched it. Her fingers came back red. She leaped backwards again, jumping the fallen stretcher. Sara gulped down, looking for courage. She turned. And then she screamed.  
A friend of hers had once told her about something called a blood eagle. The victims ribs were split apart, looking horribly like a birds wings under the out stretched arms. They're vital organs we're pinned in place with wood so they could remain alive for hours, if the person who did it was skilled enough.  
And now Sara got to see it first hand. The man's blood, if it had been a man, was falling through the floor. Sara noticed it was grated, with weird symbols on it now. She bent over, retching. Not only had the man been put in the blood eagle, but he had been skinned. All apart from his face. That had been left in place. It showed the agony he had suffered before his death, probably from blood loss.  
Something tiny waddled out of the nightmare darkness, a gleaming knife in hand. It was like a small, grey toddler. With dead black eyes. Sara backed away from the beasts, repeating over and over, "This is not happening to me." Something lashed out behind her. Then came sweet darkness.

Looking through a shop window, Zanatos grinned. "You know, since this place is deserted, we really should pick up some weapons. What ever got the town folks might still be around, you know?"  
Mercurius dragged him away from the gun shop. The pair had walked into Silent Hill, only to find no one home. Now they we're checking out the town mini-mall. "The people are probably having some kind of party somewhere. If you walk in totting half the town Gun shop, we'll get arrested."  
Zanatos shrugged. "Not while I'm carrying that kind of fire power we won't."  
The pair we're still arguing when several minute later, they we're attacked. A loud flapping noise came out of nowhere. Looking around, Mercurius said, "What the hell is that? Sounds like the worlds biggest bat just took off."  
Looking up, Zanatos' eyes widened. Something big and winged was coming out of the fog. "Right on both hell and big bat! Duck!"  
Both men threw themselves to the ground as the huge winged demon tried to grab them in clawed feet. It soared back to the air. Zanatos got to his feet, and pulled a long, wicked, and almost useless knife against the thing. "Next time, we take the guns."  
"Agreed." Mercurius was to his feet as well. He watched as the thing came round again. "Try slashing the things wing. On the ground, it'll be simpler to kill." Reaching down, his hand searched for something, anything he could use as a weapon. An iron pipe came to hand. Hefting it, Mercurius watched as the thing came round again.  
It tried to come in lower this time, in case the victim intended ducked again. However, Zanatos saw that coming. He flung himself off to one side, the thing flying past at full speed. He flung the knife, 12 inches of gleaming steal gashing open the thin membrane that kept the winged creature in flight. It tumbled through the air, barely able to fly. Even so it tried to lash out at Mercurius. But the small, nimble man ducked and with all his strength sent the heavy pipe into the things skull. It collapsed, a sickening crack telling of the broken bones.  
Picking up his knife, Zanatos turned. "What the hell is that thing? It looks like something those priest people say is lurking in hell to torment my soul."  
Mercurius was kneeling by the dead thing, examining it. His pipe was close to hand. "Whatever it was, it's built like a bird. Very powerful muscles, but its bones are hollow to lighten it. The thing must be close to 6ft, but I bet it wouldn't weigh much more than a hundred pounds."  
Zan looked at it with distaste. "This town is freaky, my friend. Let's see if we can pick up some guns and leave, or maybe call in the Marines. Marines would be good about right now. We haven't seen our old buddies since we left for the good life as civilian's."  
Mercurius nodded. "We need to do something at least. Come on, let's head back to the mall. There has to be some kind of phone there. And the guns of course."  
Unfortunately, something had other plans. Part way back, the road had gone missing. It simply broke off, like some kind of huge earth quake had reduced it to rubble. Only the huge gap where it had been was filled with that damned fog. There was no way to tell how deep the pit was. Mercurius looked at it. "That's the fourth non-possible thing today. Our car vanishes, the town is completely deserted, a winged demon attacks us and a piece of road we walked on minutes earlier is gone. There is some highly weird shit happening here, Zan."  
Zanatos looked at the place where the mall would be. "Bugger that for a game of soldiers." Zanatos' father had been English, and he knew words that most of the Marines had never heard of. He walked over and looked through the window's of each house. After four tries, he said, "Bingo." And kicked the door down.  
Mercurius winced. Zan's approach to thing's tended to be blunt and to the point. He followed his friend inside anyway. Zan normally knew what he was doing, too.  
Following Zanatos, Mercurius quickly realised why Zan had broken in here. The front room was a nightmare for Greenpeace. There were more stuffed creatures than in the Natural History Museums. And that meant the man might be a hunter, and have guns. And guns were something the pair needed badly, if there were more of those winged things.  
As Zanatos was looking for guns, Mercurius checked the phone. It was dead. Turning to the wall he checked the light switch. It worked. That meant the phone line was out. Maybe when the road had gone it took the line's with it.  
In the bed room, Zanatos was looking round for guns. There weren't any up on the wall, and no animal heads. Looked like the wife had said no to that one. Opening the closet, he found the man's gun rack and it's his ammo box. But they we're all locked up with a chain. "Hey Merc, get up here. I need you to pick this lock for me."  
Walking up the stairs, Mercurius pulled a small strip of metal out from his pocket and went to work on the lock. "You know, the phones dead."  
"You think that the road took the phone line with it?"  
"It's possible, but somehow I have the feeling that even if they were intact none of the phones would work."  
"Somehow I feel the same way. Something about this town is truly fucked up. I mean, everyone here seems to be gone, and big ass things are flapping round."  
There was a click. "Got it." Mercurius stood up with the chain and lock in one hand. Zanatos reached down, and pulled out an evil looking combat shotgun with a walnut stock and a light. Mercurius picked out a high powered rifle, with both a laser sight and a light. "These are not legal weapons. You can only get these babies on the black market."  
Hefting his new toy, Zanatos grinned. "Yeah, these things would be accepted by old Master Apal. These are right up his street. But why is he locking them all up? It's not for the cops, that's for sure."  
With a shrug, Mercurius pointed down the corridor. "Maybe he had kids. I really don't want to check myself. You know, I just had an idea." He reached up and checked the top of the closet, finding an old Colt SAA, but well maintained. "This guy didn't strike me as the sort to want to hang round unlocking chains if a burglar was in the house."  
"Good point." Zanatos handed Mercurius all the rifle rounds, picking up the shotgun shells for himself. After a second, he also collected the rounds for the SAA and gave them to Mercurius as well. Overloaded, Mercurius got a small pack with a strap on it and loaded the ammo into it. Zanatos pulled the shells out and stored them in several pouches attached to his belt, under the long coat he wore. As he was loading the gun with the few remaining shells he looked out the window. "Uhhh, Merc, theirs a women lying on the street outside."  
Mercurius looked outside. "We better go and get her, hadn't we? Wouldn't want her to get hit by a car, if any still work in this godforsaken place."

Sara awoke with a start, waving her arms around her. After a second she realised she was in a house, lying on a bed. The things were gone…but how had she got here? She sat up, and looked round her. There was an open closet, with several guns in it. But Sara hadn't used a gun in years, and only smaller hand guns. With a sick feeling as she looked over one of the guns, Sara knew she wouldn't be able to even load one of those things. She reversed it, and held the thing by it's barrel. It might be loaded, but if it wasn't it would serve as a club.  
Armed, Sara felt more confident. Walking outside and onto the upstairs landing, she could hear voices downstairs. Her makeshift club held firmly in both hands, Sara crept downstairs. The voices grew louder. A pair of men, or at least two who were talking. That made her relax a little, but not much. She didn't know if the demons could talk. And then a tall man walked out the door a few feet in front of her. She jumped into the air startled. The man, however span smoothly. The huge double barrelled gun he carried was too big to swing in the narrow corridor, but a knife appeared in his hand.  
Zanatos let out his breath. "Jeeezzzz lady, next time say something before you scare me like that. I thought you were one of the beasts we've been having trouble with."  
Holding her hand to her chest, Sara took another look at the shotgun wielding man. He had a long cut on his head, but otherwise looked unhurt. She looked down at her self with a start. There weren't any cuts on her.  
Zanatos reached up and held the women up by the elbow. She looked like she was about to faint. "Come on and sit down, before you pass out again. I'm Zanatos Kell, by the way."  
"Sara" murmured Sara, allowing herself to be led to a chair. Another man, this one short with white hair, handed her a drink. She gulped it down.  
Zanatos and Mercurius looked at her, then each other in shock. That had been a double malt whisky. Mercurius shrugged. He leaned over her. "OK…Sara wasn't it? I'm Mercurius, but you can call me Merc. Do you have any idea what is going on here? Or where those demons came from?"  
Sara looked at him. Yes, the things were demons. "I don't know…everything went black, and then the Siren started, then I saw that poor man and the things came out of the night and they, and they, they…" She couldn't finish.  
Mercurius and Zanatos looked at each other before. Then Zanatos handed her another whisky. "Let it touch the sides this time, OK Sara?" When the woman nodded and only took a small sip, the ex-marine moved into the corridor with his friend. "Whatever happened to that lady messed her head up well and truly. I don't think were going to get a lot out of her."  
Mercurius nodded. "She ran into those demons too. And from the sound of it something else. Either she was drugged…or we need to leave this pleasant little town very quickly."  
"I think we should probably leave. If we meet any more of the locals we might of out stayed our welcome. They definitely haven't got tourism off yet."  
There was a crash as glass splintered in the living room, followed by a smaller crash. Both men moved quickly. Zanatos crossed the room with three long legged strides, cleared the remnants of the glass and aimed his shotgun out the window. All he could see was swirling fog…if anything was moving he couldn't see it. Mercurius was standing over Sara, who was starring at something on the floor. The glass, still half full, was smashed on the floor.  
Swearing, Zanatos moved over to the thing that had come through the window. It was a doll's head, filled with stones to make it punch through the glass. Attached to it was a map with writing on the back:

Go to the School

Zanatos showed it to the other two. Mercurius turned back to Sara. "Did you see who threw that through the window?"  
The young women shook her head. "It just came out of the fog. I couldn't see anything. Are we going to follow it? Go where the note tells us?"  
Zanatos looked on the map. It looked like a fairly complete map of the town. "I don't think we have much of a choice…Looking at this, at least one road out of town is gone. We can swing by the others on this side on the way to the school, but I think we know what we'll find. Shouldn't we give the lady here a gun if we're leaving?"  
Sara stood up, and nodded. "Yes, I want a gun. I'm not going up against those things with out a gun, but I don't know how to use one of those big guns."  
Mercurius shrugged. "Looks like the SAA." He pulled the Colt from his bag. "OK, this is an old gun. You have to pull the hammer back before you fire it. You understand?"  
She nodded, then removing making sure it wasn't loaded, mock fired. The first few times were clumsy, but gradually she got the hang of it, until the action was smooth.  
Mercurius nodded, then took the gun back and loaded it, careful to show Sara, then unloaded it. She handed it and several rounds to Sara. "Load it up." The young women did so, but it took her a while. Mercurius shook his head. "Too slow, again" he said in the crisp voice of a drill sergeant, a post Mercurius had once held. She unloaded it then did it again, then again, until the ex-marine was satisfied. Then with a tight grin Sara placed it in her belt. "We should stop of in a convenience store or something, and get some flash lights. When those…things came for me, it went dark and everything…changed. Lights would help."  
Zanatos tapped the light on top of his shotgun, while Mercurius held up his rifle to show the light on top of it. Zanatos spoke first. "We both got lights, but we'll pick up a couple of spares and some batteries. Maybe we can find some other stuff of use."  
Mercurius nodded, and held for the broken door. He looked at his partner, and Zanatos grinned and shrugged. Sara looked at the two men, and rolled her eyes. Truth was she felt safe with the pair, and they obviously knew how to handle the powerful weapons they carried. If there was a safe place in Silent Hill, it was between those two.  
The three walked into the chilly air of Silent Hill, a town deserted of life except those born of evil. As far as they knew, they were the only human's still alive in the godforsaken town. They set off for there one clue: Midwich Elementary School… 


	2. Darkness

**Chapter Two – Darkness**

The door of the store lay on the floor, kicked of its hinges. Zanatos was quite able to pick locks…but he liked to kick door down. Inside three people we're looking through the store, searching for anything of use.  
Zanatos picked up a CD. "Hey, look at this. Linkin Park. Cool. Anyone seen a CD player?"  
Mercurius sighed. "We're in a town gone to hell and he wants to listen to bloody Linkin Park."  
Shrugging, Zanatos put it back, and picked up some long-life batteries. "OK…Sara, you got those torches yet?"  
The woman held up a pair of big, high power torches with long handles. "I think these ought to do, since both you boys have lights on your guns."  
Zanatos nodded. "Good. I have a burning desire to leave right about now. Come on folks, the way out of town should be a matter of feet down the road." He looked out of the window. "Ah damnit, it's started snowing…what the hell is it doing snowing in June?"  
Looking out the window, Sara shrugged. "This town really isn't normal. None of the cars will start. I tried to break in to a few, but none would start. I looked under the hood…but there was nothing wrong. It was like they didn't want to start."  
Against his will, Mercurius shuddered. "Come on, lets go."  
The three left. Zanatos looked over at Sara, who was standing there in a blouse. "You need a coat."  
Looking over the 6ft 7 monster, she shook her head. "As long as it isn't yours. It's down to your knees. It would eat me."  
"That's true, but I had other ideas." Zanatos walked off to the left, put his fist through a window, and pulled out a beautiful coat from the display. No alarms sounded. He threw it over to her. "The only good thing about this town is the price."  
Further along they saw a sign: 'You are now leaving Silent Hill'. Mercurius let out a sigh. "Thank God for that."  
Up ahead a small figure was in the fog. A small girl with dark hair and a blue dress. Zanatos looked up. "Hey, little girl, over here!" The child ignored him, and ran into the thick fog. "Ah crap, get back here!" Zanatos began to follow, but Sara grabbed his arm. He dragged her for a second before noticing. "What is it?"  
Sara pointed after the girl. "I followed her before, and it was a trap. The things took me to their world. Please, don't follow her! She's one of them!"  
Before Zanatos could answer, or even decide what to do, the choice was made for him. The road ahead began to crumple, then simply fell away. The buildings to either side fell with it. The big man leaped back, pulling both his friends with him. "Fucking hell fire! What the fuck is going on!"  
Sara let go and walked forward, right to the edge of the huge gash that had just been formed. Across from her, the little girl looked back. Their eyes met, and then the girl slowly disappeared.  
Zanatos had his gun to his shoulder, searching the road. "Bugger it, this place is fucking with my head!"  
Mercurius grabbed his friends arm. "Zan, it's fucking with mine too. Keep calm, or we are dead. This place is not a good place to die. Get a grip man, or WE ARE DEAD!"  
With a shudder, Zanatos lowered the gun. Not all the way, but far enough to re-assure his friend. "Let's get to this goddamned school so we can find out how to get the fuck out of here." He set off in the direction of the bridge that would take them to old Silent Hill. Mercurius began to follow, then noticed that Sara was still looking over the gap. "Come on lady, now is about time to leave."  
Sara shook her head, then turned. "Yeah, OK."  
They followed after Zanatos.

Several minutes later the little group arrived by the local police station. Looking up, and still holding his gun ready, Zanatos said, "Well, well, it looks like this place has some cops. If I we're a smart person I'd try in to barricade myself somewhere with lots of food and ammo if I couldn't get out of Silent Hill, which, lets face it, is a possibility here." He gestured vaguely at the tall building in front of him. "A police station is just that kinda place, if it has a cafeteria."  
With a nod, Mercurius walked over to the door. "Your right, Zan. That's the most logical option in a worst case scenario." Pushing the door gently, Mercurius watched as the door moved on well greased hinges. "Sorry my friend, you don't get to kick this door in."  
With a small smile, Sara looked at the larger ex-marine. "What is it with you and breaking things? I noticed the door on that house was fire wood."  
With a grin and a shrug, Zanatos walked towards the door and entered, the gun up and ready. He span the gun to the left and the right, quickly scanning the whole room. "It looks…abandoned. There's even some mist in here…damn, I never did like police stations."  
Advancing, Zanatos in front and Mercurius in the rear with Sara sandwiched between them. Zanatos quickly checked the door to he left: locked. Then he checked the door to the right, this time opening it. He kicked the door fully open, maybe annoyed that he hadn't been able to attack the front door. It was a small office, with another door at the end. A quick check revealed it to be locked as well. He turned to his companions. On the board was some crap about a drugs investigation. "OK people, we can remove a door or we can leave, heading for the school again. I'm inclined to check the place a bit more. After all, locked doors are meant to keep things out. I'm betting that didn't include us."  
Sara looked around. "I don't like it here…but I don't like it anywhere in this hell hole. I'll stay with you two."  
With a sigh, Mercurius gestured at the door on the other side of the entrance. "Looks like you get to enjoy your wood smashing fetish Zan. Kick away. But one thing: we do not split up. It might be quicker to search, and God knows I want out of here, but it's an invitation to Death to come knocking."  
"Agreed." In three steps Zanatos was passed the others, and aimed a powerful kick at the door. The stout wood shuddered, but held. He aimed a second, this time at the lock. Again it shuddered, and held.  
Zanatos took a step back, looked at the door and said, "Sod this. Resistance is futile." He snapped up the dual barrels of the shotgun, clicking off the safety with his thumb, and pulled the trigger.  
The monster weapon roared it's message of death, and the area around the lock was reduced to so many splinters. The door swung back from the force, a huge hole missing where the door had been blasted apart. "No damned hardwood door is gonna stop Zanatos Kell you bastards! HAH!"  
With a pump of the handle, Zanatos was ready for anything he might face, be it monster from hell or well enforced door.  
Mercurius looked up. He'd covered the lady from ricochet as soon as he'd realised what his partner was up to. "Well…that really wasn't necessary, now was it?"  
"Oh I don't know…made me feel better."  
Sara looked at the pair. "Come one you two. We need to look through here and get out as quick as we can." She marched passed the pair, and through the door Zanatos had obliterated. Her male escorts quickly followed, especially when they heard her scream. Then they ran.  
The pair of ex-marines ran round a corner, to find Sara looking in terror at a small, grey…thing. It's soulless black eyes where looking at her, as it moved forwards towards the blonde lady. Zanatos moved her slightly to one side, and steeped forwards himself, as if in recognition of some kind of challenge. Raising the terrible shotgun, he aimed…  
…And snarled in pain as a second of the creatures stabbed him in the leg, just below the knee. It had come from a side corridor. "Son of a bitch!" He swung the huge gun round, aiming it at the top of the things head, and pulled the trigger. The twin barrels roared, sending the thing flying against a wall. A sharp crack announced the end of the first, as Mercurius snapped off a shot.  
Turning round, Zanatos tested the damage done to his leg. "Goddamn that hurts! The bloody thing got right to the bone…damn it! I should have seen that second one."  
Sara kneeled down next to him. She had recovered from the shock of seeing the things that had...done what to her? "I don't think that you've been badly hurt…it cut through some muscle, but you should be able to walk. The main problem will be infection. I don't know how to stop it in these conditions."  
"I do." Mercurius knelt next to his partner, pulling out a small metal flask. He uncapped it and poured the amber liquid over the big man's wound. Zanatos made a muffled noise, grabbed the flask and took a large swig.  
"Ow!" He gasped as he finished, "That hurt you bastard!"  
Smiling slightly, Mercurius took back his flask. "Well it's for your own good. Make sure you don't walk into an ambush next time." He turned to Sara. "That opinion sounded very professional. Are you a doctor?"  
With a shake of her head, Sara answered, "No, I was a medical student. I got to the third year before I got kicked out for stealing drugs."  
Zanatos raised an eye brow as he heard that. He was tying a piece of his jacket around his leg. "That's bloody honest. Me and Merc here were Marines…but we left when it got dull. They give us pensions and everything."  
Mercurius pointed with his rifle. "Since we've done story time now, lets continue. No more rushing off anyone. Stay with the tour at all times."  
They set off, this time Mercurius and Sara in the front, Zanatos limping behind them. A door to the right opened up, revealing a well organised set of desks. Most we're covered in papers. A small office stood at the far wall. A quick look through the window showed it was as empty of civilisation as the rest of Silent Hill. Zanatos was looking over one of the cops desk, and came up with a file marked, 'Weird shit'. "Interesting name…lets take a look at this." He opened, and his eyes went slightly wider. "Hey boys and girls, this looks like fun. Some chunks are gone…but might still be useful. Listen here."

Officer: McKenzie  
Date: unkown  
Details: A house fire started over at that Gillespie woman's place. Heard that she got out but her little girl got fried. I was upset, I know, but I only saw the kid when she came with her school for a look round. If I didn't know better I'd say everyone's wife had died. The whole damned precinct's in mourning…I heard the girl is still alive, but probably won't make it. Shame…looked like a good kid.

Officer: McKenzie  
Date:  
Details: I put all these things in here…I ain't really sure who in the station I can trust. Hopefully they won't find them here…I think Silent Hill has some kind of cult ………………………………… god's child. That's why ……………………… hurt. Apparently she should be dead…keeps on ……… and shit…but just won't go. I think ……………….. something illegal to keep her going, but I can't be sure. I'm gonna check it out…but quietly.

Officer: McKenzie  
Date:  
Details: This town has got some really weird shit going on. I know they have some weird drugs from a local plant that they use for their weird cult things. But I think there really is something about that cult…something ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….!

Officer:  
Date:  
Details: Oh my god…it's too late now, way too late for me. …………………………………………………………… that's changed the town and everyone in it into…this. I know ………….. in the hospital, but …………….. this. The town and everyone in it has become hell! The floor and walls have these weird markings everywhere, and they're all covered in dry blood. All the non-cultists are either dead and hanging from the walls, or they're all barricaded up. I'm not waiting here to die, oh hell no! The thing on the roof…I'm gonna take it out, get to the chopper, and get the hell out of here. Me and my gun are not gonna be another victim.

Zanatos flicked the file closed. And dropped it as he noticed the back was covered in dried blood. "Ah shit!" He hoped back. "Holy shit, that's horrible!"  
Sara looked at the folder. "All the people here…there dead, aren't they?"  
With a shake of his head, Mercurius answered, "No, not all. The cop said some were barricaded away…in the hell that Silent Hill had become."  
With a shrugs, Zanatos gestured at the folder. "Same difference. I don't think anything can survive long in this world, let alone this alternative version."  
Mercurius looked at his friend. "We're alive after a few hours."  
"We're different…ex-marines are better equipped than any bloody town cop."  
Sara looked at the pair. "We have to try and save them…but they aren't here. Let's finish up quickly and leave."  
They left. Zanatos was again in the rear, his limp becoming more noticeable. They walked further along the corridor towards the door at the end. Mercurius, in the lead, opened it. It was a long row of jail cells on either side. The mist from outside was drifting through the windows, flowing around the floor. Walking forwards the end, Mercurius looked in each cell in turn. All had the same hard looking bench and not much else.  
Side by side, Zanatos and Sara walked in as well. "Well…maybe the rest of the place is on the other side of the building," muttered the big man.  
The door slammed shut. Zanatos span, wincing as his injured leg protested. Mercurius' rifle pointed over Sara's shoulder. But no one was there. Mercurius didn't lower the gun though. "The wind maybe?"  
And then the sirens started. It sounded like old Air Raid sirens. Both Mercurius and Zanatos looked around. Sara, however was on the floor, hands over her ears. "No…no…no…there coming for me again!"  
Zanatos looked at her. "Coming for you? Who is coming for you?"  
"Uhhh, Zan?"  
At his partners prompting Zanatos looked up. Everything was different now. The floor had become a grate, a huge symbol of some kind on it. The walls too had changed. Something the colour of rust ran down them. Chains hung from the ceiling. And the cells we're now full. Each one had a body in it. Each one was horribly mutilated. And all we're faceless. But each one was hung up in a slightly different way, and all had died in differently. One was staked in the heart, another his throat cut then sealed again with some thing hot. And the only reason they could see was the powerful lights they had. Everything had become as black as a cave at midnight.  
As he walked along them, Zanatos began to feel true dread. The melted remains of a gun had been burnt into one person, destroying their heart. Guns alone might not be enough to save them.  
Mercurius knelt down next to the hysterical women. "My God…this is what you saw, isn't it. No wonder…" He reached down, and pulled her to her feet. She screamed as she saw the horrible things that had one been human in the cells. Mercurius grabbed her by the shoulders and shook her gently. "Come on Sara. Snap out of it!" She looked at him, seeming not to see him. She looked at Zan and screamed again. Mercurius did the only thing he could think of. He slapped her across the face.  
Sara looked back at Mercurius, surprise in her eyes. Then she took a deep breath, even though the air tasted of death and blood. "I'm…I'm sorry. But…they…got me in this world last time."  
Mercurius frowned. How had she survived if they had got her? It didn't make much sense. "Zan, what's that door like?"  
The bigger man shrugged. "I assume it's open. Can't get shredded or nuthin if it ain't." He walked over, twisted the handle. The door opened to reveal the corridor they had just come along. Only now it was like the cells: its floor was rusted grates, it's walls stained. The windows we're covered in steel grids…and outside was black.  
Mercurius shuddered. "This place is freaked. Time to leave, boys and girls." He set of down the corridor in the lead.  
As they advanced through the hell that had, minutes earlier, been a small town police station, Zanatos stopped outside the door to the office they had been in moments before. "Merc, should we take a look in here? Some things might have changed since our last visit." It also gave the big man an excuse not to walk for a few minutes. The bandage on his leg was soaked in blood, and the flesh around it, if it could have been seen, had been come red and angry.  
Mercurius re-traced his steps back to the door, Sara following closely. With a nod, and his gun ready, Mercurius gave the signal for the door to be thrown open. The big man nodded, turned the handle and gently moved the door open. It would be pointless if the door swung back and closed in Merc's face. With a quick movement Merc was in.  
As Zanatos had guessed the room was different now than it had been. It was a nightmare like the outside, all the desks, bar one, smashed and lay scattered around the room, heaped in corners, and other places they hadn't been. But even like this, it was obvious a lot of the stuff that had been here wasn't anymore. And something new was. The desk with the folder was still up and ready…only now something else was above it, on the ceiling. A burning corpse, arms out stretched like it was trying to touch something, was there, and gave the room a freaky kind of light.  
The folder lay below it, open. Zanatos could see this was an un-edited version, that the explanation to what was going on in Silent Hill was in that folder. He reached out, his huge hand reaching for his answers. The burning mass above gave out an odd noise. With a start, Zanatos jumped back, pain crossing his face. Mercurius had his gun raised, and aimed at the burning thing.  
And it moved. The flaming head turned down to look at them. The blackened mouth opened, and the thing hissed, "Hell is here." The chain that was holding it too the ceiling snapped, sending the cage and its tortured inhabitant crashing into the desk below. The whole thing exploded in a shower of sparks.  
Both men and Sara backed away, as the heat from the burning mass grew hotter. Forced into the corridor, Mercurius said, "Did he say, 'Hell is here'?"  
Over his shoulder, his gun raised, Zanatos responded, "Yes, he did."  
Sara looked at the pair. "Who cares what he said! The damned thing spoke! It was dead, it was burning and it spoke!"  
With a shrug, Mercurius set off again. "I know…right now, I'm trying not to know very hard. We can talk about this when we are safe. Lets go."  
With little choice but to follow him, the others set off after him.

Back at the first door they had entered, the one Zanatos had reduced to fire wood, and they ran into their first major problem. The door was back, this time in the rusted steel of this new Hell World. It wasn't even locked this time: it was welded to the wall.  
With a snarl Zanatos smashed one huge fist into it. Flakes of rust fell off. "What the fuck do we do with this thing now? We can't move it with anything smaller than goddamned C-4!"  
Sara looked from one man to the other. "What? Do you mean we're trapped in this place? Oh you have got to be joking! This is just great!"  
Mercurius took a deep breath. "Calm down you two. There's still one way we haven't tried yet, that corridor further back. You know the one Zan, where one of you're little buddies got you from."  
With a sigh and a nod, Zanatos began to limp back the way they had came. With a slight look of concern, Sara moved after him. "Is that leg alright?"  
Zanatos shrugged. "It hurts, but unless we stop of at a hospital, there ain't a lot we can do about it." He sighed. "Trust me lady I've had to live with a lot worse in my time."  
Before he could stop her, Sara hung one of his arms over her shoulder. "I may be small and weak, but I can take some of the weight off that leg of yours."  
Zanatos looked behind him at his partner, as if to say, 'Your gonna let her do this to me?' Mercurius just shrugged. 'Not my problem.'  
Frowning, Zanatos looked down at the small blonde woman. "Fine…just make sure you move quickly if you quickly if a fight breaks out. Ain't a chance in hell I can fight right with you hanging on to one side." Despite his frown though, Zanatos looked both relived and…a little embarrassed...?  
No way, though his white haired companion, I've seen him stripped naked after a bad night out and he just went through the streets jogging, waving at people. What the hell can make someone like that embarrassed?  
Moving slowly as they did, they moved along the second corridor. There we're several doors just like the now defunct entrance one. Welded closed. There were also things hanging in the ceiling…things that everyone very carefully didn't look at.  
The last door in the long corridor, however, wasn't locked or jammed shut. It opened onto a small hall with a double stair. The small party moved to the second floor of the nightmare that the Silent Hill Police Station had become…

Zanatos leaned against the wall. He'd very carefully made sure that the wall didn't have anything unpleasant on it. Along one corridor he could see the light on top of Mercurius' gun, along the other corridor Sara's high powered flashlight. They'd been forced to split up, to try the second floor doors quicker. The main reason was Zanatos' leg. After a few hundred yards, Sara had become tired and had checked his leg. What they had seen had shocked them all. The wound was red around the actual cut, raised up slightly. The wound itself was bleeding heavily, as well as leaking a weird black liquid at one side. But the oddest thing was that odd markings we're beginning to appear on his leg…markings that looked a lot like the ones on the walls and floor.  
With a slight shudder, Zanatos called out to his companions, "Are you guys finished yet? I'm getting all bored standing over here by myself." With whatever the hell is going with my leg, he added to himself.  
Sara waved to him, then remembered he couldn't actually see her. Zanatos had his own light pointing down the corridor they had came up, to make sure nothing followed after them. The big man was disturbed by the marks that the infection on his leg had caused. Sara was worried that the combination of mental stress and the infection was making him begin to loose grip on things… "Zanatos, Merc, I've got an open door over here!"  
Merc called back, "I have a locked door this end…not welded shut though. We might be able to pick the lock…" There was a note of doubt in his voice though. He'd tried several times to pick the lock. The thing was, although he knew the lock type well enough, it wouldn't work…the lock seemed to resent any attempt made to pick it.  
Zanatos shrugged. "The little lady gets to go through door number one. Give us a second Sara, and we can all try it together. After the last door you went through first, I'm guessing you aren't eager to try it again." Moving fairly quickly, despite his leg, Zanatos got to the door at about the same time as Mercurius. With a quick gesture, he showed his partner he could do the honours.  
Mercurius opened the door slightly, then pushed it so it opened slowly. He had to push quite hard, and the door seemed rusty and creaked heavily. With a sort of hopping jump, Zanatos was inside, and waving that shotgun around the room.  
It was, it had to be said, well lit. A burning person in a cage in each corner of the room made a lot of light. A four sided thing stood in the middle of the room, and there was something written on the side closest to the door. In blood. Maybe they were begging to adapt to what was going on, but they could almost ignore the way the place was lit up. Almost. Moving closer, Mercurius read it out loud.

"The Ancient Greek's believed in the four elements, Fire, Earth, Wind and Water.  
Remember that the fire is in the blood…"

Zanatos pointed over to the far wall. "Look, there are some coloured panels over there…four, if I'm seeing right."  
Sara moved over to them, gently moving one away from the wall in case it was some kind of trap. It came away without a noise. She held it up. It was a simple, yellow metal plate. "What the hell is this?"  
With a look at the odd message, then the four plates, Mercurius replied, "It looks like a simple puzzle…we have four plates, one green, one red, one yellow and one blue. We have a four sided thing, telling us about the four elements…God help us, in a message of blood. I think we have to solve it before the other door will open up…leading somewhere."  
Sara brought the yellow plate and the red plate over. "So where do we put these? Do you know?"  
Frowning slightly, Mercurius took the red plate. "Fire is in the blood…I guess the fire goes on the side with blood on it, then they go clockwise, earth, wind then water." He put the red panel down with a clank. Sara put the yellow one on the plate next to it after a nod from Mercurius. Quickly she went and got the last two plates. Repeating the process for the last two, they stood back. Somewhere well away there was an audible click.  
With a look around, Zanatos checked nothing had changed. "Everything's the same as it was…what was all that about then?"  
Mercurius looked at the door. "Maybe it opened that other door up…it would make sense. This place seems to be driving us somewhere, but with the odd test to see how we do. I don't like it…but I think we have to follow."  
They quickly moved to the other door. As Mercurius predicted the door opened first time, but with a horrible rusted groan like it was a living thing.  
Beyond was another pitch black corridor, the same as all the others. Zanatos moved up the centre, gun barrel flashing to the left, then the right, searching for anything that could be a threat. The light searched, but all it found was shadows. Nothing seemed to be moving. All that there seemed to be was a very long corridor. Nothing else.  
Mercurius moved forward, adding his powerful light to his buddies. "Nothing…its just a long, very black, extremely creepy corridor."  
His partner sighed. "I wish you hadn't said that…"  
"What, very black?"  
"No, creepy…you had to point out just how creepy it is."  
Moving cautiously ahead, with Mercurius in point, they began to walk. The corridor stretched out ahead, far longer than should have been possible. Sara stopped after a while, and Zanatos leaned against a wall, taking advantage of even this brief break. The woman asked, "How long is this corridor? The building is no where near this big…we should be near the next block over by now!"  
Mercurius looked around. "We'll try a few more hundred more feet, then-"  
Zanatos raised a hand, stopping him dead, and raised a hand to his ear. Mercurius also listened. Somewhere up ahead was a sound like a cleaver hitting meat, and…a kind of squeaking noise. Both men silently moved forwards, guns raised. With a gesture Zanatos asked if they should cut the lights. Mercurius shook his head. Whoever it was must have seen them by now, and without them, they would be blind. They had to assume there enemy could see in the dark.  
Sara, meanwhile moved behind and between the two men. The ancient handgun rested in her hand, its weight and feel reassuring to her. She noticed that, as mush as it hurt him, Zanatos was moving normally. He couldn't keep the pain of his face though, and already his forehead was shiny with sweat in the dim half-light across his face.  
As they approached the noise, gradually they could see what was making the noise. Two of the small grey creatures they had fought earlier were hacking chunks out of a man. He had been crucified, and blood soaked through his clothes, but a police badge could still be seen gleaming on his chest, attached to the tattered remnants of his blue shirt. His head hung on his chest, a mop of dark hair in disarray.  
A look of pain, then anger crossed Zanatos' face. He put the shotgun to his shoulder, pulled the trigger, and watched as both the small, grey creatures shuddered under the blast. They turned, and began to walk towards them.  
Mercurius' eyes widened as, blood dripping from the wounds in there backs, the creatures advanced. Their black eyes seemed to swallow the light from the torches. He heard distantly, Sara screaming at him, telling him to shoot, to stop them as they advanced. He heard his friend and partner snarling at him, telling him to shot, his gun was jammed, shoot damn you…  
A small, single crack rang out. Not the high powered snap of the rifle, but the smaller blast of a hand gun. Behind Mercurius Sara fired the hand gun a second time, staggering the grey creature to the left. Zanatos grunted, wrestling with the huge cannon like shotgun, trying to un-jam it before it was too late. Suddenly Mercurius shook his head. "Damn you little bastards, stop looking at me!" He shouldered the rifle, fired. The crack echoed down the long corridor. A hole appeared in the forehead of the creature to the right. A third shot fired from the SAA put the one on the left down, slumping next to its partner.  
A clanking noise announced Zanatos had un-jammed his shotgun. He pumped it twice, retrieved the unfired shells and reloaded the gun before saying, "What the fuck was all that about Merc? The little shits were nearly on us by the time you did a bloody thing about it!"  
Mercurius shuddered, starring at the bodies of the small monsters. "I…couldn't. They looked at me, they looked into me…it was like they were starring into my soul, judging me, seeing if my soul was pure."  
Sara put a hand on his shoulder. "And they found you…good? Pure? Whatever it was, they let you go?"  
The shorter Marine shook his head. "No, they damned me…"  
Zanatos shuddered. "My gun…it was almost like it didn't want to fire. It just locked up."  
Behind them something roared. Zanatos raised the hopefully functioning shotgun, swearing. "Now there is something I don't like the sound of," he muttered under his breath. In the silence it was loud enough.  
Sara looked round, for a doorway. The welded rusty plates around them seemed solid. Desperately, as the roaring grew closer, she looked to the dead cop. Something had been…forced through where his left kidney would have been. It was round, and shiny with fresh blood. But…it was shiny where there was no blood as well. "That man, there's a door behind him!"  
Mercurius looked as well. "Damn…you're right. Those little bastards crucified him right on to the door." He quickly looked the poor man over. Maybe it was all they had seen, or maybe it was Silent Hill itself, but he no longer felt ill when he saw the mutilated corpses. "Zan, unless you want our dead friend coming down on you, I'd move buddy." The larger man moved off to one side. With a nod, Mercurius turned round, and used the barrel of his rifle to wrench the corpse off.  
The former cop resisted, his body moving but his arms and legs firmly rooted attached too the door. The hole where the door handle had been forced through his body squelched each time he tried. Another roar bellowed behind them. It sounded like some kind of gigantic, wounded animal. This time it was answered by the roar of Zanatos' shotgun. "Just checking it lived," he said to Sara's look of question.  
The door creaked again as Mercurius heaved. Then it shuddered again. But this time, Mercurius hadn't been putting any pressure on the door. He pulled the barrel loose, just in time. The whole door groaned again, then flew down the corridor like a huge explosion had blown it off. It sailed past the startled Zanatos slammed into the floor and cart wheeled off into the darkness. Somewhere a howl [Pain, rage, robbed of its prey] erupted from the blackness.  
Zanatos shook his head slightly. "Time to get the fuck out of here, me thinks. Move damnit!"  
His roar of fury had two effects: to be answered by the beast, and to make Mercurius and Sara snap out of staring where the door had flown. Quickly, with Zanatos presenting a limping rearguard, they mounted the stairs. At the top was another rusted door. It opened onto the roof of the police station.  
And a nightmare.


	3. Seperation

**Chapter Three – Separation**

On the top of the police station, Something had become lord. It had stopped the police in the station, those who still lived, from escaping. It had reached off the roof, its web catching them as they tried to run. Their trusted squad cars wouldn't mind, beloved dogs had turned on them, and they never thought too look up until it had been too late. Far, far too late. A few officers had spotted it, tried to fight it up here. McKenzie had been one, and his broken body had ended up guarding the door to the beast itself.  
It was big, whatever it had once been, if it had ever been anything else. The creature could only remember being as it was, but that didn't mean it hadn't been something before that. Eight legs, at each corner of the body, supported it. The body was large, and round. Its body was armoured, made of some kind of hard, bony substance. At the joints muscles could be seen. Dozens of eyes focused on the little group. It took a step towards the three new intruders.  
Mercurius looked in horror as the monster advanced. Each armoured leg came down with a crack. Zanatos also looked on in dumb shock, as the massive creature moved towards them. The winged things and the little demons were pretty bad, but this thing was just fucking unreal.  
Sara, however, moved. The two heavily armed, well trained ex-Marines stood still, but she realised much faster that if they didn't fight they were dead. She ran to one side, pulled back the hammer of the Colt, and fired. The bullet bounced of the beast like it was nothing, but caught its attention. The eyes looked her way, even as she ran. It turned from the other two towards this moving prey.  
It was a mistake. Zanatos shook his head. The he clipped Mercurius round the head. His partner looked at him. "Merc, move to the right, flank the son-of-a-bitch! I'll fire, bring its attention back to me, then you fire and bring its attention to you! Confuse the bastard with a crossfire!"  
Mercurius was already moving, motivated, feeling better with the idea of a usable, sane, human plan to follow. He felt like they had been playing some other things game up until then. Now the ball was in there court.  
Sara ducked as one huge leg stabbed at her. Each end was sharpened to a horrible point. A voice rang out, "Hey you ugly piece of shit, over here!" Zanatos. The creature ignored that, pulled another leg back for the strike. A roar, the man made roar of the gun, made it shudder. Shot slammed into its side. The small lead balls and chips of armour ricocheted around the roof top. Blood exploded from its side in a half dozen places where shot had gone through. It hissed, and turned too look at the big man. Zanatos pumped the shotgun. "Bring it, fucker!"  
The monster swung it's bulk around, hissed again. It took three steps, moved with horrible speed. Zanatos fired a second blast straight into its face. One of its eyes exploded, and it hissed again. It kept on moving, covering the open topped roof easily. A sharp crack rang out, then a second. Both times the beast shuddered, then it stopped, turned again. This time to face the white [faced] haired Mercurius. Unlike Zanatos, Mercurius was on the move. And then two more shots rang out, the small calibre blast of the SAA. Sara had guessed what the two men had planned, and had waited until the time was right before firing. The monster turned again, and she pulled the trigger. The gun clicked empty. All six shots gone. Three into the small grey demons, the rest into this monster. Zanatos saw as she desperately re-loaded, mimicking the movements Merc had showed her, taught her, but panic had banished the lessons better than time ever could. Pumping the shotgun, he fired again, at the same place in the side that he had fired at first time. He knew he only had one shot left, and got ready to fire. The beast turned again, and charged. It moved even faster than before. Pain and rage at being outsmarted by its victims drove it on.  
Mercurius stopped and fired both his remaining shots. Instead of turning the monster continued to charge. Zanatos snapped up the shotgun, muttering, "Shitshitshit," but not in time. A long stream of stuff flew from its head, where its mouth could have been. It slammed into Zanatos' chest, sending him flying back, and sticking him to the wall behind him. The air left his lungs with an explosive woooosh. The massive weapon dropped to the floor. Mercurius screamed and charged, switching his empty and useless weapon into a club. The thing saw him, and one viscous leg kicked out, smashing him backwards. He flew, skidded along the floor.  
Sara's trembling hands snapped the SAA closed. She aimed and fired, even as the monster brought its huge head down to the unconscious Zanatos' level. Her smaller weapon barely scratched it, but it changed direction anyway, swinging it's huge head up and around. It advanced again. Sara fired, once, twice, three times. All three shots it shrugged off like water. She backed away, even as it advanced. She looked behind it, and saw Zanatos was moving and using that knife to cut his way out. But it would take too long…for her, for him, for Merc. Then as if by thinking his name summoned him, she saw the white haired man moving in the corner of her vision. His hands moved across the gun, loading a bullet straight into the chamber, aimed, fired. The bullet punched a hole deep into the beast. It hissed again, turned to look at him. Sara fired. Not at the body, or the head, or its eyes. At the muscle she could see at its knees.  
It was a hundred to one shot for a amateur with a hand gun. Sara knew that, but for years as a teenager she'd hung with the 'wrong' crowd, and made sure her parents and teachers never found out. One of the things they had done was teach her too shoot…well.  
The bullet slammed into the beast's knee. It shrieked, not hissed but much more high pitched. The noise seemed to explode around them. The whole of the monster shook as it shifted weight to the other legs, tried hold the other one off the ground. It stood, wavering, trying to decide if it should charge the white man or the pain-giver. It was too long for the beast, long enough for Mercurius.  
Mercurius fired again, having got another six rounds into his rifle quicker than should have been possible for a human. Another leg exploded. This time the whole lower section hung there for a second, held in place only by a few muscles. Then it slowly dropped, flesh snapping as it fell to the floor.  
The monster staggered, tried to remain upright. But its enemies saw it was wounded now, went in for the kill. Mercurius fired rapidly, three of his shots going wide, but two others slamming into the things joints. Sara fired her last two shots as well, one slicing more tendons and muscle in a knee. The monster fell with a terrible scream.  
Steps rang out across the silence. Zanatos, moving oh so slowly, his leg dragging behind him, advanced. His shotgun was in one hand, the other one tearing off the sticky crap the beast had sprayed him with. He stood in front of the feebly moving head. Without a word he heaved up the shotgun, aimed, and fired.  
At point blank range the shot tore into the things head. It exploded like some kind of melon hit by a hammer. It shuddered, and died.  
Zanatos wiped gore from his face. He looked up at the others, about to say something. Then the sirens rang out again. They looked round, and the world flickered. The darkness began to melt away, and the snow covered of the Silent Hill police station appeared.  
Mercurius looked around, laughing. The nightmare was over! They had won! Then he looked at his friend since boyhood, the man he had grew up with, who he had known forever. He was silently screaming. The darkness wasn't going away from him. It was surrounding him. Zanatos reached down and tore off the bandage on his leg. The marks were obvious now. One just like it was behind Zanatos, on a wall. It was a circle with a triangle in it, and other weird marks inside that. It was covering the wound on Zanatos' leg, even as black liquid exploded from the long gash in it. Zanatos looked up, his eyes meeting Mercurius', showing the fear and pain he was going through.  
And then he was gone.


	4. Nightmare Education

**Chapter Four – Nightmare Education**

Mercurius ran to where his friend had been, looking for traces of him, a way to find him, a clue, anything! He looked around the misty roof, desperately searching for his missing friend, hoping beyond all hope that he would was just moved somewhere else, that he was still with them. After a few seconds (minutes? Hours? Days?) he gave up, and simply shouted, "Zanatos! Where are you!?"  
Sara looked around then. She had been looking over the edge, searching for anything, finding nothing. She hadn't seen Zanatos vanish. "Merc? What's wrong? Where's Zan?"  
Mercurius looked around desperately. "He didn't come back! When the other world faded, he was trapped there! He's stuck in the hell place!"  
A horrified look crossed the face of Sara. "What? He's still trapped there? Shit, what do we do now?!" She reached up and grabbed her face. They had been so close to freedom…  
With a huge surge of will, Mercurius said what they had to do. "We have to carry on to the school."  
Sara looked at him as though he had just told her to strip naked. "What? We can't just leave him here! What if he manages to come back?"  
Mercurius shook his head. "He can't…that thing on his leg was complete. He can't leave that world. But he knows that we are going to the school. Maybe he can meet us there. Maybe we can bring him out with us. Or something."  
It wasn't a great plan, but it was a plan. Something that involved moving, going places. And not standing at the site where their friend and partner had been condemned to hell, at least for now…  
They entered the Police Station, and headed for the first floor exit…

Mercurius and Sara stood opposite the school doors. The streets on there way here had been filled with nothing but fog, and yet…they had felt something waiting, something there. Maybe it had always been there, in the background, and was simply becoming stronger, or louder. But it was obvious that something wasn't right here…  
The fog in the street swirled around, clinging to there legs, as snow gently fell to earth. They could just make out the outline of the steps leading up to the doors, and the doors themselves.  
With a look around to confirm nothing was there, Mercurius, with Sara's hand in his and his rifle in the other, began to move across the street.  
"You aren't allowed in there."  
Mercurius dropped Sara's hand, and both span towards the voice. At first they couldn't spot anyone. Then Sara nudged Mercurius' arm, and pointed up, through the branches of a tree.  
A small shape, a little girl was sat on the ledge of a second floor window of the house behind them. "You can't go in there yet. It isn't allowed."  
Mercurius looked up at her. "Why not? Our friends going there. We have to find him."  
The little girl frowned slightly. "Samael isn't playing by the rules again…you were all meant to enter here together. This isn't fair…he knows he can't do that."  
The white haired man also frowned. "Samael? Who the hell is he? And why can't we enter the school without Zanatos?"  
Sara suddenly breathed in. "You're the little girl that I met before! The one that led me into a trap with the demon things!"  
The little girl shook her head. "I'm not that one. That was a puppet in my image, meant to make sure you wouldn't trust me. Why do you think you got out of there alive? To make sure I couldn't use you…"  
Sara stared at her for a second. "Use us? How? Why?"  
The little girl shrugged. "I don't know…say, can I come with you? I'm all alone in this town…"  
Mercurius looked at Sara, and she looked back. Then Sara shrugged. Although the little girl was weird, and not terribly trust worthy, she was still only a little girl, alone in a town where hell was erupting. There was no way she could fight off one of those creatures…or even run from one of the flying demons. Mercurius looked up at her. "Yeah…I suppose so. Come on down here."  
The little girl vanished through the window.  
Mercurius looked over at the young woman. "Are sure we should do this? That little girl is not normal…well, except in a town like this. She knows stuff, and I'd bet my car, if I still had it, that she isn't going to tell us a thing."  
Sara nodded. "I know…but she's still a little girl all alone in this hell hole. Just keep an eye on…" She trailed off as the little girl ran out of the front door and moved up to them lightly.  
Mercurius looked down at the little girl. Typical blue little girl dress with ducks on it, dark hair, brown eyes…nothing about her, except what she had said, was threatening. Even her earlier words were only worrying…which was pretty good for this place.  
"Hey little one," he said, kneeling down, "Have you got a name we can call you?"  
The little girl nodded. "My name is…Cheryl."

Mercurius carefully moved around the corner of the school's front desk. So far so good…nothing had tried to jump them. Yet. Cheryl hadn't been able to tell them much about herself…except that she had a father named Harry, and that she didn't live in the town herself. The door to the school hadn't proved to be a problem. Now they had got to the front desk. He looked over the front. It was covered in blood. Writing again. "Shit…Sara, keep that kid back there."  
The young woman nodded, and holding Cheryl's hand, moved away slightly. Mercurius looked over and read the three messages read the messages in blood outloud.

'10:00 "Alchemy laboratory" Gold in an old man's palm. The future hidden in his fist. Exchange for sage's water.'

'12:00 "A place with songs and sound" A silver guidepost is untapped in lost tongues. Awakening at the ordained order.'

'5:00 "Darkness that brings the choking heat" Flames render the silence, awakening the hungry beast. Open time's door to beckon prey.'

He looked over at the two female's. "Try and remember as much of that as you can, please…I think these are more of those damned clues."  
Cheryl pointed at a door at the other end of the corridor. "Lets go that way now."  
Sara nodded. "Sure…it's as good a direction as any."  
They headed along the corridor, trying doors as they went. All of them were locked, or jammed, or something. They wouldn't open, no matter what Mercurius did to the locks on them...those that had locks. Eventually they came to some stairs. With little to no choice, they went up. On the second floor they found two open doors…they entered the one closest to them first.  
It was some kind of lab store room. Chemicals were piled on the shelf. Walking along the shelves, Cheryl suddenly stopped and grabbed a bottle, then held it up in front of Mercurius. "Sage's Water!"  
One look at the bottle caused the white haired man to snatch it from her. "That's hydrochloric acid! That stuff will melt your skin off!"  
Sara put a hand on his shoulder, making him look round at her. "Merc…that stuff used to be called Sage's Water. She's right. I think we need that stuff. That rhyme said we needed it, remember?"  
With a slight thrown, Merc got some clothe and wrapped the bottle in that, then placed that in his bag. "Come on then…lets find the gold in the old man's palm, or the future, or whatever it is."  
They left the room, and entered the class room next to it. It must have been a science lab, and the object of their search was immediately obvious. A hand, which looked wrinkled with age but was obviously fake, had in its grasp a large cold coin. A quick test proved that Mercurius couldn't break the grasp. If the massive Zanatos had been there, it might well of been different, but he wasn't so…  
Cheryl sat on a stool, swinging her legs. "Aren't you going to use the hydro…the hydro….the acid stuff on it?"  
Merc slammed it off the desk. A chunk of wood flew out. "It seems we have no choice." He put his hand in his bag, pulled out the bottle. Opening it carefully, he poured the viscous contents over the hand.  
The outer layer on the back of the hand bubbled away. Then it began to work on the fingers. But something was wrong. Flesh had appeared, and bone was beginning to show. It seemed a hand had been cut off and covered in some kind of stone. Mercurius backed away as the thing sizzled violently, turned his face so he didn't have to look. Sara grabbed the little girl and made sure she didn't see as the hand withered away and fell apart. Once the reaction was finished and the gold disc, which was un-reactive with the acid, was free, Mercurius reached for it. But even as he did, it faded away…a clock tower somewhere outside rang out as it did. Mercurius yanked his hand back, in case whatever happened to the disc happened to his hand.  
Sara and Mercurius looked at each other. "Time to go," said the young woman, and they quickly left.

The next room they found open was the school's music room. A strange poem was written on the board. Mercurius approached it, then turned as Cheryl screamed. A pair of the small demon things had followed them through the open door. Sara was holding the little girl in her arms, and having difficulty bringing her gun to bear. Mercurius brought the rifle barrel up quickly, fired off a shot which knocked one back, re-aimed…and the window behind him exploded.  
Sara looked over quickly as Mercurius was knocked down by a flying monster that had flown straight through the window. It was trying to claw at his face with its viscous hind legs, and he was suing the rifle. Cheryl was crying into her shoulder. She felt something slice the air by her leg and jumped back, almost loosing her balance. The small grey thing lunged and grabbed her leg. Kicking, she opened up on the second one with her handgun. Three bullets later it dropped to the floor. She tried to kick the other one from her foot, but it was latched on fast.  
Mercurius lay on his back, screaming every curse he's ever heard Zanatos use as he wrestled with the monster above him. Finally, after a few seconds that seemed like years, he got his feet into place and heaved against its chest. The thing flew again, this time slamming into the wall behind it. There was sickening crack and it fell to the floor. Mercurius rolled over, brought the rifle round, and fired.  
The creature on Sara's leg flew off, one of its black eyes exploding in a red spray. Mercurius got up and surveyed the damage. The flying beast had shattered the board with the clue on it, leaving it smashed and ruined on the floor. But amongst the ruins something silver gleamed…which vanished even as he reached for it. Again the clock tower rang out. The ex-marine moved over to the girls. "Are you two okay?"  
Sara nodded as Cheryl looked up with wet eyes. "Were fine…where are all these things coming from?"  
Mercurius shook his head. "I don't really know…come on. I think our job here is done."  
Again they walked the halls of the abandoned school. The eerie half light that came through the windows was enough to see with out having to use the torches, but it left the building with a cold feeling, a cold kind of death that shouldn't be in a place like a school, which was normally so full of life and energy. After going down a pair of stair cases they came to some kind of huge generator…the school's backup.  
Sara moved up to it. A look over at Merc, and then she hit the button. The massive machine roared to life with a terrible growl. The school shook with the roar of it as it gasped in air. A wave of heat slammed into the three.  
Mercurius span around, his rifle raised. "Shit! Was that just the generator? Or something else?"  
His young female friend looked round, the child still in her arms. "I don't know Merc…hey, listen!"  
The clock tower rang out, just audible over the backup's harsh growl. Cheryl looked at them. "I think the place where your friend is waiting has opened up now." The two adults looked at her, again reminded that she wasn't what she seemed to be…  
The three headed up. They entered a courtyard, and it became obvious this was where the clock had rung from. In one corner was a large clock tower. A small door was set in its base, and to either side was the disc's the trio had found earlier. The small door was open. Mercurius went over to it and looked down. "I think its safe…there isn't anything down there. Just a long ladder."  
Sara and Cheryl came over too. Sara put the little girl down. The sky was becoming very dark. "Ok honey…we have to go down here. Merc will go first, then you, then me. That gonna work, Merc?"  
Merc nodded, and then headed down the ladders. The sky was very dark now, and with the rifle slung over one shoulder he couldn't use the light on it. Sara had to stand at the top and point her light down. As he got to the bottom he stood there with his own light shining, watching as Cheryl then Sara followed him down. He then looked around. "I think this is some kind of War shelter…I don't think it was finished. Come on. There's a passage."  
The walked through what Merc thought was a bomb shelter and found a second ladder. Moving up it they found themselves…in the courtyard again. Only this time it was black as night and the floor had once again become a grate with that weird mark on it…  
Sara looked around. "Oh, God…were back here again."  
Mercurius also looked around. "I know…but here we might be able to find Zan again. We just have to be…careful."  
An explosion of metal to one side rained down. Two black objects flew to the ground, flying from the second floor which had been smashed open by a huge thing with a long sword…


	5. From the Darkness came Light

Chapter Five – From the Darkness came Light

Zanatos sat up with a start. He looked around the roof. The corpse of the monster he, Merc and Sara had killed was there, immobile, dead. Zanatos got to his, let out a small cry of pain as his weight came down on his damaged leg. It still leaked that weird black liquid, and even a quick look revealed that the mark was still there and very noticeable. Even a brief look around told him that the mark was everywhere. It also told him his companions were gone. He had no way of knowing that right at that moment they were walking towards the school. But he did remember watching them go, even as the pain tore through him. He knew that it had been pure pain that had knocked him out…it had cooked him down to his nerve endings, made the dark world explode with light as he had passed out. It was unholy, that pain…  
A quick look around told him he was alone. "Oh, smeg…I'm going to have to walk all the way to the bloody school, aren't I?" He began to move over to the stairs. Several minutes later he was at the junction where a lot of his problems had started, when he's been ambushed. The two grey things had gone, and so had one knife, but the one that had got him was still there.  
Zanatos kneeled down next to it. It looked like a simple kitchen knife, covered in blood and some kind of white powder…could that be what had done all this to him? Zanatos didn't know, and really didn't care. He was much more interested in finding a cure than he was in what caused it. It didn't particularly occur to him that the cause could reveal the cure, but he kept the knife anyway. You never know.  
He got back up, again wincing as his leg gave him problems. He continued dragging himself to the exit. It was as he reached for the door that heard it. Gunshots. Humans. The gun sounded like a high calibre pistol…a big colt or a magnum maybe. Zanatos didn't know what exactly, but he knew they had nothing like that in there armoury when he had been around…but that didn't rule out that it could be Mercurius or Sara. Whoever it was almost had to be human though…so he moved towards the sound. A second shot fired as he was in the small office, or a nightmare version of it, where he had found a little info on some kind of drug investigation. There was a sealed door at one end, or at least it had been. Zanatos tried it, and it opened up this time.  
Beyond was what looked like the chiefs office. A fat man was standing at a desk in a police uniform. The desk was all that was left. In his hand was what looked a big Magnum Desert Eagle…a weapon that was barely legal. Around him were what at first looked dead cops, but when he looked closer the cops had some kind of lump on there back…rather disgusting. The fat cop noticed the door was open and raised his gun. "Who's there?"  
Zanatos entered, one hand in the air, the other using the shotgun as a walking stick. "Don't shoot bud, I'm alive and normal. Well, except my legs damn near useless right now…my name is Zanatos Kell."  
The cop looked at him. "Kell huh…well as long as your alive, and ya ain't out for a chunk of my ass, I won't shoot ya. Names Sheriff Knight, like the old English guys on horses."  
Zanatos nodded. His eye had narrowed slightly at the mention of the name though. "Fair enough Sheriff. I was just on my way out of this shit hole. Care to join me?"  
The Sheriff looked the ex-marine up and down. "Hell yeah. I already tried high tailing it on out of here, but my ex-employees made that a mite difficult. An' all the squad cars are bust. Can't get one of the hunks of shit to move. Then all the sirens and crap start, and I end up here." He looked over his desk. "Come on up, little lady. This man's a friend."  
A young woman, maybe fourteen or fifteen years old, came up from here she had been hiding. She wore an old fashioned dress of blue, and had deep black hair. She looked terrified. The only light was from the light on the sheriff's shirt and Zanatos' own flashlight on the shotgun, and it gave the already freakish room deep shadows around the pools of light.  
The big man took a hobbling step forward. "Don't worry little lady, I'm not gonna hurt you. Hey, just call me Zan OK? What's you name."  
The terrified young woman moved forward slightly. "My names…Alessa."

Zanatos and the Sheriff stood outside the office, comparing notes as it were. "I don't know what happened," the big cop said, "I was asleep and then…boom! I wake up and find the whole city is hell. I thought I must have died at first, but then I found the girl…and I reckon she ain't done nuthin' that deserves damnin. I took from where I found, fought all the way to here. Hoped to find some boys alive. But they were all changed…so I took up a last stand, and by God I won it!"  
Zanatos looked thoughtful. "Me and Merc, my partner, were asleep just before our car was stolen. I dunno about the woman we were with. What do you know about the girl?"  
Knight shrugged. "I found her wandering the town. I reckoned she needed…help. That's my job, and I'm gonna do it til I can't no more."  
The larger man nodded. "That's cool by me, Sheriff. But I want to hook up with my partner. We were meant to head to the school, but we stopped here and got fucked over. When we killed the thing on the roof they went back to the real world, but something kept me here in Hell."  
The fat man looked at him sharply. He grabbed the massive Zanatos by the collar. "You tellin' me there might be a way back to the real world? The Light World? You better not be shitting me boy."  
With a shrug Zanatos disengaged the cops hands. "No shit. I saw them go. They'll of moved on to the school, hoping to find a way here to get me out. Well, I sure as hell hope so…me and Merc never been in this deep before though." For the first time doubt entered Zanatos' mind. Merc wouldn't leave him, surely? But would you leave Merc? Maybe, in this town, courage isn't a factor anymore.  
The cop looked at him warily. "We'll go to Greenwhich then. But you better be tellin me the truth, or it will go badly for you."  
Zanatos shrugged, and turned. But as he moved he could have sworn the man had twitched.  
Moving up to the young woman, Zanatos kneeled down in front of her. Even then he was a little bigger than her. "OK darling, were going to move on out of here. Were going to the school." He saw panic in her eyes. "Don't worry dear, Zan's gonna protect you. Me and Miss Nancy here," He said, grinned and held up his shotgun. The woman returned the smile, just. Deep shock, thought the Ex-Marine. He'd seen it on the field. He stood up and gestured for her to step outside. The three moved outside the police station. Although the air smelt terrible, of blood and rot and rust, Zanatos inhaled deeply. It smelled of Freedom too.  
But once again Zanatos noticed a problem: the Sheriff had a leather jacket, but Alessa was simply in that dress, and the rain had already soaked through that. Shrugging off the big coat, he put it over he shoulders. She jumped. "Take it easy kiddo. You need this more than I do. Just be careful…its gonna drag along the floor some."  
Alessa smiled slightly. "Thank you."  
Zanatos grinned and winked. "Not a problem, lovely lady."  
A noise made Zanatos spin. He caught a shadow at the top of his vision and dragged Alessa down. A nightmare flapped over the top of them. The ex-marine looked round at the retreating shape. The Sheriff fired two shots: but not at the creature. Looking around Zanatos saw something terrible. A huge, ape like creature, two gun shots in its chest was lopping forward. The cop took another step back as it leaped and fired again. It fell dead at his feet.  
Zanatos rose with a groan. More of them were coming and he could hear flapping in the air. And something was moving towards them…big…nasty…evil…a sword dragging, metal grinding on metal. The other creatures moved away, or the shadowy forms he saw did. The Thing suddenly went of course and a huge blade sliced the air, cutting one of the flying things in half. Everything else moved away.  
Looking behind him, over his shoulder, Zanatos saw they weren't blocking the way to the school. Not yet. "Run! Now!"  
Knight began to move, but Alessa didn't. The cop looked round, came back and grabbed her. She screamed briefly. The Sheriff looked at Zan and with the girl under one arm, nodded and saluted. Zanatos nodded and returned the salute. Then the cop broke into a run, Alessa screaming at him to stop, that Zan couldn't run.  
Zanatos Kell turned round again. The figure loomed in front of him [Sin]. It had a strange, Pyramid like helmet and a dirty bloodstained apron. It was destroying some kind of creature Zanatos had never seen before. He smelled death in the air.  
The massive ex-marine raised the massive shotgun to his shoulder. "Who's the daddy, mother fucker?" Then he pulled the trigger.

Knight heard the roar of the shotgun as he ran. The young woman under one arm was barely anything. Although over weight, Sheriff Knight was actually fairly fit. He was very strong…but running was not his strong point. He was breathing heavily, and could hear his own heart beating in his chest, almost in time with every other shotgun blast. Then the blasts stopped.  
He looked around, saw nothing there. So he put Alessa down. She immediately moved away and he grabbed her. She turned round, her eyes wide with fear. "Zan is still there! We have to go back!"  
Knight slapped her. Hard. "He's dead. You're mine again. Come on, we have to find his…friends."

Zanatos swore as the gun went out. He was slowly moving back, firing as often as he could. His aim was to slow them down enough for the others to get away. He fumbled several shells, swearing. The monsters were drawing in closer. He was going as fasts as he could, but that was easily slow enough for them to slowly maul him. The only problem was the other thing was killing them as fast as he was, but they didn't dare go near that thing. They were very interested in killing him.  
Finally he finished loading the gun, locked it up, and fired at the first thing that moved. Then he fired at anything else.  
God only knows how long he fired. He didn't. All he could remember was firing, reloading, and firing again. And always that thing, lurking, just at the edge. Zanatos realised he was screaming at it even as he fired.  
He looked around, desperate. A rotten sign hung over a door, but he could just make out the words, 'Elementary'. Could he of blasted his way all the way to the school? He checked his ammo. He only had enough for one more re-load. He did the only thing he could and, dragging his damaged leg, which had almost completely failed now, entered the school.  
Slamming the door shut, he leaned against it, resting. He could feel his friends, somewhere here. And he could feel the thing, the Pyramid Head, outside…and inside. More than one? Maybe. He moved away again. He felt weak and ill now. Sweat ran from him, and he could smell the wound on his leg. It was killing him, but far faster than any infection could.  
It was on the second floor he heard the voices. Knight and Alessa. He stopped and listened.  
Knight: "You have to do what I say now, Alessa. Do it or you ain't gonna make it out of here alive."  
Alessa: "No! You left Zan and now you want to do those…things to me!"  
Knight: "It's the only way you gonna get out of here, darling."  
There was a crash, a crunch of steel. Zanatos looked round, and saw Pyramid Head. Knight came rushing out, and said, "You!" But did he see me, wonders Zanatos.  
The big man brought up his shotgun. "Get down!" The sheriff dropped. If he was shocked to see the massive Zanatos still alive, he didn't show it. Both barrels roared, but the thing barely shook. It continued forwards. Knight was up, and he fired that magnum at it. It moved slightly. The it swung that huge sword.  
The flat of the blade slapped both men into the far wall, dazing them. The behemoth charged forwards and smashed them into the wall with the flat of the blade. Then through it. Both men plunged into the darkness, and Zanatos saw Alessa's pale face framed in darkness as the monster turned to face her.


	6. Undecided Paths

**Chapter 6 – Undecided Paths.**

With a grunt Zanatos slammed into the hard metal floor with a clang of metal, watched as the shotgun clattered away. Sheriff Knight landed next to him, and bounced clean off the floor, span slowly in mid-air, and came down once more with a crash.  
Silence stole over the courtyard. Then a grinding as that great blade slid along the floor. Alessa screamed as the thing moved towards her, one hand out...  
Rolling, the giant Zanatos turned and grabbed his shotgun. And quickly realised at this range it was next to useless against the Pyramid Head. And then he saw…Mercurius? "Merc, shoot it for Heaven's sake! It'll get Alessa!"  
Mercurius nodded. Zanatos told him to shoot, and so he fired. It was only as he fired the first shot that it registered: Zan was back! But by then he was firing at the thing, listening as each shot ricocheted away with a ping, sparks flying from its armoured head. Whatever it was, its was…smart? Well, it wore a helmet. Mercurius tried lower down, and was rewarded with another ping and flash of sparks. The shot had gone of its helmet, even though Mercurius had aimed for the leg. Some kind of magnet, maybe?  
However it was done, it turned. And suddenly it screamed.  
Everyone still standing dropped to there knee's, or fell over completely. It was a howl of such…pain, rage, the suffering it had known. Everything was wrong for it. It suffered so…it knew that it had done wrong. But why this punishment?   
It began to shake, violently, as though it was having a fit. Its blood stained body shook with an unholy force. And suddenly, it pulled back its arm and hurled the sword into the darkened sky. And then, holding its head in its hands, it moved away.  
Zanatos grinned. He looked around. "Everyone OK?"  
And then Sara screamed, "Zan, look out!" He looked up and saw the razor blade edge of the great sword…coming straight for him! He rolled and watched with horror the blade, quivering in the ground where his chest had been seconds before. It would of nailed him to the floor.  
With a look of relief Mercurius brought his friend up to his feet. "Zan…I thought we'd lost you. That you were…"  
"So did I buddy. But dying is the very last thing I plan to do, so I figured I'd try and not do it." Zan grinned at his sad attempt at humour. Then he winced and toppled over backwards.  
With a cry Sara was beside him, checking him. "His heart rate is erratic…he's running a fever…" She looked at Mercurius and the Sheriff, who had joined them. "If we don't do something he's going to die. A normal man would already be dead. I don't know how he is still alive…but whatever is keeping him here can't last much longer."  
Mercurius looked up. "Sheriff…Knight? How far is it to the hospital?"  
"How'd ya know mah name boi?" In his surprise, Knight slid into an accent he hadn't used in years.  
"Saw it in the Station when I was there."  
"Oh…well, I reckon that the hospital is a good way from here. Right over the bridge, and a block down."  
The marine looked at Sara. "Can he make it?"  
She shook her head. "He doesn't have a choice. Its that or I try taking off his leg, here…"  
Mercurius shook his head. "No. That'll kill him just as surely."  
The door opened with a click and Alessa walked out. She took one look at Cheryl and literally hissed, "You!"  
Cheryl looked up from the fallen warrior. "Away, fallen and despised! These people have no need of your curses!"  
"It is you they do not need, you and the false hope you give!"  
Cheryl raised her hand and made as though to speak, but the Air Raid Sirens again rang. The world began to flicker. And Zanatos awoke, and screamed. His huge fist shot out and grabbed Sara, and dragged her close. Mercurius and Knight dived…and passed through as they flickered into the real world. They looked around. Alessa was gone too…they were once again in the real world. But the screams of Zanatos still haunted the old Courtyard…

In the Courtyard Sara tried desperately to keep the thrashing Zanatos from hurting himself. But even with all her weight, one arm nearly threw her away. Without that massive coat, she could now see just how big his arms were. Both her hands wouldn't go round the biceps and triceps. Alessa knelt next to him and whispered something, and he slumped back…then his eyes opened. "What happened?"  
"The wound to your leg…it must of become infected. You had a fit. The young lady here calmed you down."  
"Its not an infection. Poison." He pulled out the knife and handed it to her, handle first. "There's…some kinda powder on the blade." He smiled at the younger woman. "Thanks Alessa."  
Sara looked the blade over. "I think your right. We gotta get you to the hospital…we'll help you."  
With a grunt Zanatos rose to his feet. He swayed slightly, then reached out and grabbed the handle of the sword. "I'll use this as a walking stick."  
Alessa frowned. "That thing must weight 150lbs, Zan."  
The Ex-Marine grinned. "Closer to 175. It could come in useful though. But you ladies can take turns helping me, if you must."  
Sara draped his arm over her shoulders. "Come on…the faster we move the sooner we can do something about your leg. I don't like it…"  
"I know that feeling."  
Alessa picked up his shotgun. Zanatos hesitated a moment, then reached out his hand. "Better give her back, honey…the kick from that gun nearly blows me off my feet. There ain't no way you could fire it and not be shot across the room."   
Alessa reluctantly gave it up. "I need a gun though…if we find another can I have it?"  
"Sure…" Sara smiled weakly and the trio headed for the door. 

Outside the school, Mercurius gestured into the fog. "Which way, Sheriff? We need to go as quick as possible. It might take a while to enter the Dark World."  
Knight breathed in deeply. "Its good to taste fresh air…wait, you wanna go back there? You crazy, boy? We just got out!"  
Turning, Mercurius looked at him. "My friend is trapped there. And two woman."  
Snorting, Knight headed down the steps. "My skin is staying where it is…and if that means there a streak of yellow down my back, so be it."  
"You'll never get out of this town alive unless you help them."  
Knight turned and looked at Cheryl. "Are you threatening me, little lady?"  
She shook her head. "Merely stating a fact."  
Knight raised his gun…and found Mercurius' rifle aimed at his temple, the marine standing next to him. "Don't even think about it, Sheriff. Or Cheryl's prediction becomes fact a lot faster than you'd like."  
His eyes locked on the gun, the lawman slowly slid the gun into its holster. "Fair enough. Tell you what…I feel kinda bad about nearly leaving those poor folk behind. I do feel a certain kinship with little Alessa, so I think I'll go with you, OK? At least until we're all safe."  
"Your choice…you can leave whenever you want."  
"Then I'll come with you…for now."

Zanatos Kell limped up to the door of the hospital. What Alessa assured him was the hospital, at least. This world rarely left anything intact. The two woman were right behind him. Without warning the huge man span, his shotgun raised. Sara dropped as it whistled over her head, and looked at him. "Zan…what's wrong? What is it?"  
"Can't you hear it?"  
She blinked. "Hear what?"  
Zan slowly swung the shotgun from side to side, scanning the area. "Metal on metal…the Pyramid Head. Its near…I can hear it dragging its sword. It comes for us."  
"Zan…its not here. There nothing here for now."  
Alessa touched his arm. "It is true…the Judgement is not here yet. I know not where it resides now, but it is not near here."  
Slowly the shotgun lowered. "Alright…lets enter." He turned and opened the door…

Mercurius walked up to the door of the hospital. The place didn't look terribly inviting, but hospitals never did. And in the murky half-light that the fog created, and the power outage all over the city…well, nothing looked right.  
He span suddenly, rifle to his shoulder. Knight hopped back and nearly went for his own gun, until he realised Mercurius was aiming over him. "What's up? See something?"  
The rifle went down. "Zan…Sara. Their here. I heard them. But…I think that thing from the school is here. I heard the door close…and then I heard…that sword being dragged."


	7. Unreal

**Chapter 7 – Unreal**

Zanatos Kell lay on the bench in the examination room. It was more or less intact, but sagged slightly under the behemoths weight. The once immaculate room where doctors would of checked out less injured patients was stained red. The furniture was smashed and lay strewn, bar the bed.  
But it was obvious someone had been here. Someone had tried to tidy the place. The floor, as dirt stained and ruined as it was, showed obvious footprints. Two sets, in fact…a man's shoes and the kind of shoe Sara knew nurses often wore. So…two people had been here. Sara knelt down, and looked closer, trying to get closer to the people who had been here. Had they lived? Had they died? Did they try and run, and if they did how far out did they get? All the way? But there were no answers…  
Zanatos groaned and rolled. Sweat beaded his brow and he said something…but Sara couldn't tell what it was. Alessa whipped his head with a cloth, and he once again calmed down slightly. Her touch had almost magical abilities on the injured giant. She looked up at Sara. "Can't you help him?"  
The older woman shook her head. "No honey…there's nothing here to help him with."

With a grunt Knight prodded at the body of a dead flying demon. "Someone blew its brains out…high calibre round, be my reckoning. Maybe there still here…an extra gun is always welcome."  
'Especially' though Mercurius, 'If they happen to side with you.'  
He reached for the door…and stopped._  
Can't you help him?  
No honey…there's nothing here to help him with.   
_The marine looked up. "We have to find drugs, bandages…anything that could help Zanatos."  
The cop nodded. "Store rooms in the basement. Locked door, but that should be no problem. The locks just to deter those damned hippy junkies we get during the tourist season."  
Shrugging, and not really caring about the problems of keeping this hell hole under control in the tourist season, Mercurius gestured to the door. "Fair enough…since you know where we're going, you can lead the way." 

A few moments later Knight kicked the elevator doors in frustration. "Whole damn town's dead, even in this world. Alright…looks like we take the stares."  
He opened the door and looked down the darkened passage. Cheryl peaked out from behind him. "Its…very dark."  
"I know, but we gotta go." Slowly, hesitantly, he headed down into the darkness. Mercurius followed, one hand on Cheryl's shoulder as they went down. The door opened with a groan, and yet moved easily…  
And behind it were…nurses. Or what had once been nurses. The pair looked at the new comers with dull eyes, slack jawed. There uniforms were covered in blood. As were the knifes in there hands.  
Knight jumped back just in time to dodge the first slash. Mercurius yanked him back in time to avoid the second tearing his throat out. Screaming, Knight thrust his high powered handgun out with one hand and pulled the trigger. The slug should of blown the former nurse's head apart. Instead it staggered back, allowing its companion to stagger in and slice into the cop's arm chubby arm. He screamed as hot blood flowed, and Mercurius' rifle swung round. The shot hammered into its chest, and blood exploded. An inhuman squeal erupted…not from the woman's throat, but from something behind her.  
The second was back on its feet. Knight charged into it, literally picking it off its feet and drilling it into the wall. It stabbed down, burying the blade in his shoulder, and he responded by ramming the gun under her chin and pulling the trigger repeatedly. Three high calibre slugs punched through her head before she finally slumped against the wall.  
Mercurius cracked the second with his rifle butt, right in the jaw, and was rewarded with the sound of splintering bone. She fell, splinters of bone poking through her flesh. But it was what was behind her, on her back that caught the man's eye. A strange blob, shifting and wiggling as though it was trying to be free of her, stared at him with what could be considered an eye. Mercurius put the rifle to his shoulder and fired. Blood, but black as night, erupted from the thing. It and the woman it had attached itself too screamed. And then the nurse slumped. The thing wiggled crazily…and then it too died.  
The sheriff groaned and yanked the knife from his shoulder. "Wha the hell are dey?"  
Mercurius knelt next to the dead woman. The name on her nametag was Andrea Miraba. "I think…I think they were nurses here. I think something possessed them…those things on the back…and now they are being forced to kill."  
Knelling next to him, Knight responded, "Great God in Heaven…I know this girl. She never been in so much as over night."  
Mercurius stood up and picked Cheryl up out of the doorway. "Come on…lets go."  
Knight nodded, walked over to a door, and fired two shots into the locked before kicking it open. Mercurius carried Cheryl past the dead woman and into the newly opened room. Inside, stacked high on metal shelves, was pills and liquids, syringes and bottles.  
Mercurius set her down. "Alright…we need a sack or something. Anything that can be used to carry as much of this stuff as we can."   
Wandering away slightly, Cheryl held something up. "Will this do?"  
The ex-marine and the cop turned to look…and saw her holding up a body bag. Knight shrugged. "It'll do…those things are pretty damned tough. We'll be able to load it well."  
They moved quickly, putting in anything that looked vaguely useful. Part way through the sirens began…and the world began to go dark and terrible.

Sara paced the room. There was nothing she could do here…and yet she could not leave Zanatos and Alessa here alone. Neither could defend themselves at the moment. Plus…she was afraid to go out, into the corridor alone. With everything quiet like this, when all she could hear was her own heart beating and the heavy breathing of Zan…. sometimes she could swear she heard moans. And screams. Far away. But each time just a little closer than before.  
Alessa sighed. "I hate being so helpless…"  
"So do I…but until we have someone with us who can fight, we have to stay where its safe. And protect Zan."  
And then she heard metal grind on metal…and a vast blade sliced through the rusted door. But just before it did both Zanatos and Alessa spoke…Alessa said, "The Judgement…is here."  
And Zanatos said, in his deep, powerful voice, "I am the Judgement."  
  
Mercurius opened the door, to see Sara pointing her gun right between his eyes. "Whoa! Its me!"   
With a cry Sara put the gun down and hugged him. "Oh, I'm so glad your safe Merc…I thought I was stuck here. That thing, the Pyramid Head…it was here. But then it just left…"  
"Don't worry. How's Zan?"  
The young woman let go and walked over to him. "He's OK right now, but he hasn't been conscious since we got here."  
Knight gestured at the huge sword next to the bench. "Ain't that the monsters sword?"  
Alessa nodded. "Zanatos used it as a crutch."  
Moving at almost a blur, Cheryl was in front of her. "Be gone! We have no need of you!"  
"It is not I who has cursed these people!"  
"I have not done anything to them!"  
"Will you two shut up?" Knight snarled at the young woman. "I got me a headache from all this crap, and firing my gun too close to my head."  
Mercurius dumped the body bag next to Zanatos. "Don't worry buddy…we got all the heavy duty drugs we could find. We'll soon have you sorted out."  
Sara moved over and began to sort through the drugs. "This will do…"  
There was several moments' silence as she injected the massive man with something. "Morphine…it should help him with the pain."  
Leaning against a wall, Knight said, "You know…I been thinking a bit, and I reckon we're alive for something."  
Mercurius looked around at him. "What do you mean?"  
"I think the town is keeping us alive for something. There were many tales of the cult of some Demon. Never believed it myself…but hell, look around you! We got Demons coming out your damned ass!"  
"But what does it want us for?"  
"To punish you." Alessa stepped forwards. "You all have sins…sins you know, that gnaw at your soul. Deeds truly terrible. To you, at least."  
With a sudden, yet jerky movement, Zanatos sat upright and pointed at Knight. "Sinner…it is your time now. I know what you are…and what you plan." The monster of a man slumped to one side. Mercurius span around…and felt something sharp jab into his arm. Knight's face leered into his. "Goodnight Mercurius…sweet dreams. I'll take care of these lovely ladies."  
He slumped down, his vision blurring he watched in slow motion as Sara dived for her colt, only to be smacked in the jaw by Knight. The smaller woman flew back. Knight pointed the gun at the fallen woman…and Mercurius' world went black.


	8. Truth or Dare?

**Chapter 8 – Truth or Dare?**

Groaning, Mercurius' eyes opened. Nothing. There was nothing but darkness. He panicked. Whatever Knight had pumped him with; it must have made him blind. Maybe it had been planned, maybe it hadn't…but the bastard had taken his sight. The ultimate punishment. Leave a man blind in this environment, and he wouldn't last very long. And he knew it.  
And suddenly there was light.  
He groaned and turned his head away from the light. It was too bright. It hurt his eyes. And then he realised: he could see! He wasn't blind…  
Slowly, Mercurius noticed other things. He was on a bench…yes, the same bench Zan had been lying on. His rifle was next to him, close to hand and ready for action.  
He laid his hand on it, and slowly sat up. His head swam, and he blinked, trying to clear it.   
A deep voice next to him spoke. "Easy there…that son of a whore pumped you full of some sedative. I think he was hoping you would die from too much of whatever it was. Lie back. Let your head clear."  
The ex-Marine went back down gratefully. His eyes have adjusted to the light. He looks up and sees a woman. A nurse. Her blond hair frames her face. She wears a read cardigan over her uniform. But her eyes…her eyes are terrified. But if you look closer…there's nothing there. No spark. No life. The eyes of a dead person.  
He blinks, and the woman is gone. Instead Zanatos stands over him, looking at him in concern. But now Mercurius looks…Zan's green eyes. They look the same. They have the same lifelessness as the woman's. "Zan? What…what happened?"  
His partner looked concerned. "Don't you remember? That S.O.B Knight…he pumped you full of crap while I was barely awake, and led the others away at gunpoint. I couldn't move, Merc…I couldn't stop him."  
Mercurius slid his legs off the bed. "I knew we couldn't trust him. He wanted to leave, but I knew he was coward. I must admit…leaving was tempting."  
He held his head in his hands. "Zan…all that stuff. You said things when you were ill. Hey, how is your leg?"  
The big man shrugged. "Painful, but better…whatever I got shot into my arm must of done the job nicely."  
The smaller man shook his head. Hadn't it only been morphine? A powerful painkiller…but it couldn't do that? Could it?  
Zanatos interrupted him though. "As soon as you feel up to it…we gotta go. Knight has the women. And even if that piece of shit isn't doing anything to them, the town will."

Knight laughed delightedly. He had forced the woman back to the police station. Oh, he'd had to blow away a few of the monsters. A flying demon here, a weird ape-thing there…no biggy! After all, he was the Sheriff of Silent Hill. He could what he wanted. And now…he had his chair back. Well, the old Sheriff's chair. Oh, it was a little worse for wear, sure. But it was still usable.   
He sat there now. Surveying his captives, his prizes of war. The two girls, they were his…Alessa always had been, and soon so would the new girl, Cheryl. But the woman. Well…he could see the defiance burning in her eyes. Maybe she would have to go. But he would have some fun with her first. The whole town was his. It always had been, if people had only had time to notice.  
He laughed again. "What do you ladies think of my kingdom? Oh, it needs a bit of cleaning, but hey…the servants been slack recently."  
No reply. Of course…he needed to take off the gags. He stood up and pulled off…yes, he decided. Sara. The wench would have something to say. "So…little woman. What you got to say to your king?"  
Sara looked at him and looked away. "Let the girls go. I'll stay, I'll do what you want. Just…let them go."  
Knight sat back in his chair and laughed. "Trying to bargain away? With me?" He span around once, the chair screaming on its rusted bearings. "Why would I want to bargain? You're going to do what I want anyway. Everyone does, in the end."  
"You…bastard!"  
He shrugged. "Ain't it the truth? Oh, sure…they said I'd never be anything. Even the Sheriff, one before me of course, said I was a looser. Well…it was a shame that he got killed. What with the SHPD having so much trouble, I was forced to take up the position." He smiled and caressed the powerful handgun. "The old Sheriff Knight had such a funny look on his face when his belly exploded from a slug from his own gun. Oh, he screamed some. But at the end he just kinda stared into my eyes. It was really quite beautiful, you know?"  
Sara shuddered. This man was a psychopath. A sociopath. Something. But he was evil. Insane. "What…what were you before you killed the old sheriff?"  
He waved dismissively. "Doesn't matter now. But if you have to know, I was the station janitor. But I knew I was destined for greatness…soon as I saw that this uniform fit me."  
He suddenly sat forward in the chair. "I'm a lot smarter than everyone thinks, you know? I know what's going on here. I overheard my predecessor and the head of the nearest hospital talking one night."  
Knowing this was the best chance she had to find out what was going on, and of course every minute the mad man was talking he wasn't doing something…worse, Sara asked, "That's very clever of you. What did you hear?"  
He grinned. "They were trying to raise a God. The great Samael. Reckoned they had some stuff that meant they could control him. I reckoned they managed it."  
Sara nodded slightly. "They were part of the cult, right?"  
"Clever girl!" He nodded approvingly. "But I reckon something went wrong. Because for a bit, back before you guys came here, everything…flickered. It was like the world went wrong. I saw it all seeping away. But then those mark things, you know, the circle triangle ones? They glowed. And it all came back. So I think those are the only thing keeping everything like this now. If we break those, we could go."  
Sara's heart thumped. Could this lunatic have stumbled on a way out? "Have you tried that? Breaking these…Marks of Samael?" The name bothered her, she had heard it before. But she couldn't remember where. "Have you tried to escape?"  
The man who claimed to be Sheriff Knight looked blank and laughed. "Why would I want to leave my kingdom? With Zanatos dead from that thing on his leg by now, and Mercurius conquered in my war on him, I rule this world. The buildings are mine, the streets are mine…and your mine. I would be crazy to leave all this!"  
And Sara knew with a sinking heart that this mad man would keep them there…until they died. Or he killed them.

Mercurius stood up swayed slightly. Zanatos held his elbow in an attempt to keep him stable. "Sure you're up to this?"  
"Do I have any choice?"  
"Not really."  
The blonde man shrugged. "Then lets go." In his own mind, Mercurius blamed himself for letting Knight get them. He must have grabbed and loaded a syringe right under his nose, while they were in the basement. He had been too busy filling the body bag with drugs to help Zan to notice the bastard do it.  
The pair stepped outside. It was dark, and even with their lights, it was difficult to see. They moved towards the hospital entrance, guns ready, when they heard…her.  
She was behind the desk, almost like she was waiting for them. Or maybe for a visitor to walk through those doors and ask to be treated. It was impossible to tell. A nurse, her uniform immaculate, and her blonde hair loose, stood they're looking at them…no, through them. As though she could not see them. Which was obviously the case…she was partially see through, unreal.   
A man walked up behind them. They turned and watched him walk between them, carrying a brief case in one hand. His suit was perfect, but his eyes were heavy, like he had been crying. He lay the brief case on the desk. "Why did you do it Lisa? We were looking after you, weren't we? It was an easy job. Why did you betray us Lisa? Tell me!"  
The young nurse, Lisa, snarled at him. "You burnt her alive, just to keep her in check! You put that beast inside of her, and when she wouldn't do what you and your filthy cult wanted Kaufman, you and that bitch set her on fire. Oh, sure…you made it look like an accident. Burnt down a few other parts of the town. But it was you who did it!"  
The man shrugged. "We did what had to be done. Its not like Alessa is a person or anything."  
"Not a person!? Of course she's a person! She's a young girl, for Gods sake!"  
"God has no business in this affair."  
Lisa turns and runs. There is a spectral door opening and slamming shut. Kaufman moves to intercept her. She walks out the door Zanatos and Mercurius themselves just exited through. The corridor around them becomes bright again, but the two marines have no doubt where they are. Lisa pushes past Kaufman and heads for the door. He grabs her arm, and she turns and screams at him. "You think just because you got me hooked on that stuff, you could stop me seeing her suffering? Everyday, I see her…she can't heal, because the damage is too extensive. And she can't die either! You bastards robbed her even of her right to die!"  
Kaufman pulled out a long barrelled revolver. "Where is the other half of the soul? I know she told you. Hell…I think you even helped her send it away."  
The nurse looks at the gun and laughs in an insane, but almost relieved fashion, bending as she does so before straightening up again. "Why should I care about being shot Kaufman? That stuff you feed me has already done a better job than that bullet. Half the nurses are walking dead, if only you let them realise it. No Michael, I'll tell you this because it gives me a great deal of pleasure to do it. Alessa sent it far, far away from here. And it took everything she had to do it. She was only awake a few minutes. Long enough, though, to tell me what I hadn't already figured out about you and your precious cult. And to send it all the way to the other side of the country."  
With a grunt Kaufman threw the briefcase, and put the revolver away. "Take it. For…services rendered, lets say. Enough of the drug to keep you happy for a month or so."  
The nurse opened the case eagerly, pulled out the white powder. Hands shaking she tore open the bag and inhaled deeply. A look of bliss passed over her face. And the she started to convulse. She turned to Kaufman, and began to stagger unsteadily towards him. A single droplet of blood appeared on her forehead, and ran down her face. She slumped to her knee, and it dropped off. She managed, by a almost super human effort, to once again stand. More blood had appeared. She was suffering a massive hemorrhage. Blood seeped through her uniform. Her face was a red mask. Lisa sobbed, begging Kaufman to help her. She dived forwards in a desperate attempt to reach him, but he simply stepped back and let her fall.   
Then he kneeled down in front of her. "Didn't I mention that? Its one hundred percent pure. I'm sure I mentioned it. And before you die, and I have to call the cops to tell them one of my own nurses was found ODed in the main entrance, I just want you to know. Dahlia wove her own spell. Within a few years the other half of the soul will return. And then we will have ultimate power."  
Kaufman turned and walked away, as the Lisa convulsed one last time…and then died. The bright hospital faded away, leaving the hollow nurse…and then she too faded away.  
Mercurius looked at Zanatos and shuddered. "That…scum-sucking fuck! How could he do that to her?"  
The big man shrugged, and walked towards the door. "In this town…I expect she got her revenge in the end."  
Mercurius watched him as he walked. "Zan…your limp. Its gone."  
Zanatos shrugged again. "Like I said, whatever Sara gave me was good stuff. I can't feel the pain in my leg. Mind…I can't feel my face either."  
Relaxing slightly, Mercurius followed his partner to the door. "The…Alessa they mentioned. It can't be the same one you met, can it?"  
His partner tried the door. "Can't see how. Alessa, our Alessa, is weird. But she hasn't got a mark on her. No way she could have been burnt alive." He shook it several times. Nothing. "Merc, take a go at that lock, will you?"  
The smaller man shook his head. "In this town…I don't think we can rule out anything." He kneeled down and pulled out his gear. "If we ever get out of here, I'm going to buy a new set of these…these picks are getting worn out from all the work I'm doing here."  
"If we make it out of here I'm buying a house in the mountain, and gonna have a pair of psychotic attack dogs called Molotov and Askit."  
"Askit?"  
"Yeah. 'What's the dogs name?' the guest says. My response, 'Askit.' See?"   
"I can see you're feeling better…" He sighed. "This door is not going to open. Not to me, not today." He stood up with a click. "Looks like were searching for another way out."  
They walked back into the building. After a few moments they reached the place where Mercurius, Knight and Cheryl had previously entered the basement levels and battled the nurses. The door, now a rusted iron monstrosity, refused to open. But the Elevator gave off a faint flicker of light…  
The blonde man pressed the button, and was surprised to see the doors open. Inside a dim light showed the floors they could choose…B1, 1, 2 or 3. "What do you reckon Zan? Shall we go all the way to the top and head for three?"  
"Uhhh...Merc?"  
"Hmmm?"  
"Where did that fourth floor button come from?"  
Mercurius turned whip-lash fast, starring at the panel. There was, indeed, a fourth floor button. "But…that wasn't there before."  
Zanatos shrugged and pressed it. "This building ain't got 4 floors…lets see where it goes." The doors slid shut on them and the Elevator slowly whirled its way up the shaft.  
Mercurius raised the stock of his rifle to his shoulder, and after a moments pause Zanatos did he same.  
Above them…something screamed.  
The elevator stopped with a jerk. The panel said they were on the third floor. The doors slid open to reveal…nurses.  
But these nurses made the ones faced earlier look decent and normal, and not the twisted, obscene monster they were. These ones carried pipes. The uniforms were soaked through with dry blood. But it was there face that was so strange…it was gone. All that was left was…a blank space. As though God himself had started them and left them unfinished.   
Zanatos' shotgun roared. One nurse flew back, making a low moan even as its malformed body slammed into the metal grate floor and skidded to a halt with a sickening crunch against the wall. But the groan was barely one of pain. It was closer to an almost sexual pleasure…  
The second nurse lurched towards Mercurius, the pipe swinging in an overhead blur designed to crack the blonde man's skull like an egg. He blocked the blow with his rifle, and then slammed the stock into the creatures jaw with a crack. It barely flinched before swinging the pipe, this time in a shot to the ribs. A harsh cracking noise signified that one or more of the fragile bones had snapped. Mercurius doubled up, and watched in horror as the monster swung the half foot long steel pipe in a third blow that would cave in his skull…  


"What's that noise?" Knight, or whatever his real name was, looked around, the magnum in one hand and Sara's SAA in the other. A crash erupted again, deep in the bowels of the police station. Knight looked around to face where the threat came from. A solid wall, bearing the Mark. "There's nothing in the part of the station except the cells…what's going on?"  
Sara thought about the thing they had fought on the stations roof. Could it possibly still be alive? Or…could it be the Pyramid thing? That made a little more sense…and yet, Sara hoped it was the Spider-Thing. At least that had been trapped on the roof…

A silver flash swept over Mercurius. The sword of the Pyramid Head, now used by Zanatos, sliced deep into the flesh of the nurse…and then through her neck. The malformed, faceless head bounced away, blood dripping onto the floor as the body swayed for a few moments and then dropped.  
The second nurse was slowly getting to its feet as the huge blade literally nailed her to the wall. She began to twitch violently, far more rapidly than a human could. It must be tearing muscles apart doing it, at least on anything still alive.   
Zanatos, however, was already kneeling by his friend. "Are you alright?"  
Mercurius had finally gone down when he saw Zanatos had nailed their targets. "I think the bitch broke my ribs."  
Gently Zanatos lifted his shirt up to look. A large, vicious looking purple bruise had already started to form. "I'd say so, yeah. It's on the wrong side for the recoil from your rifle to hit, but its still going to hurt like a bitch. I don't even have anything to tape them up. Can you move?"  
Mercurius slowly got to his feet. "Yeah, I can keep going. Zan…those nurses. We thought some before but these are…different. There barely recognisable as ever being human."  
Zan shrugged. "Maybe they never were. Maybe this is all part of a dream, a nightmare. Hell…I'm starting to wonder about if I'm real or part of a dream too."  
His partner looked at Zanatos oddly. "You're starting to get weird Zanatos."  
The bigger man smiled. "This place is gonna make us all a little odd by the time we escape, Merc. Let's concentrate on getting out of here so we can pay some head shrinker to sort our brains out. Come on, we'll try the lift…"  
After grabbing his sword from the dead…thing nailed to the wall, Zanatos helped his friend into the lift and looked around. The doors slid shut as he did and the lift began to rumble upwards to the mysterious 4th floor… 

Something screamed [Agony]. It was a high pitched wailing that made the very walls seem to vibrate and shimmer…or maybe that was just what it was doing to Sara's head. It was hard to tell. The scream erupted again [Torments unimagined] and this time Knight collapsed, his hands covering his head. "What in God's Good Name is it!?"  
And then another screaming emerged. This one, however, they could place. It was the noise of metal being torn apart as a huge blade just like the one Zanatos had taken from the Pyramid Head sliced through one wall. Knight raised his gun, ready to fire as the wall was slowly cut in half…

The fourth floor of the hospital was dead. Zanatos and Mercurius had to be half way around the place now, but they still hadn't found a door unlocked or anything even remotely interesting.  
"This is beginning to bug me now…what the blue hell is going on here?" Zanatos flicked his shotgun and its light from side to side, looking for something…anything.  
Mercurius grunted. "There's something up here. I can smell it. Hello…what's that?"  
"What's what?"  
"That door has a mark on it. Looks like some kind of…star."  
Zanatos walked up to the door. He looked around; checking for anything…then slowly opened the door. Jumping back, he waited.  
Nothing.  
With the tip of that long barrelled shotgun, he nudged the door open even further. It swung in and let out a stench of death even more overpowering than that which existed in the rest of the building.  
Apparently not bothered, Zanatos walked in and swept the room with that light on top of his gun. "Its clean. Kinda."  
Mercurius followed his friend into the room and looked around as well. It was bear, all rusty grates and stained walls…except for the far wall. Leaning against that lay a woman, a nurse. She looked oddly…familiar. Mercurius knew where he'd seen her before. "Lisa."  
Zanatos nodded. "She left us something, too." He walked over and picked up the book next to her. "There's a lot missing, and some of its been partially messed up…looks like some one got a lot of blood on this thing." He stood for a few moments, flicking through it. "Its going out about how she realises now that she was just like all the others all this time…I don't get it man."  
"What else does it say?"  
"Lets see…it's starting to clear up. I can read it now."

Its happened…I'm just like them now. It's his fault. Kaufman's fault. Kill…Kaufman…that'll take away this hole inside. Why did Harry leave me?  
  
Kaufman's dead, I killed him. It felt good. He screamed when I pulled him back. The God is still here though. I saw him…underneath. In the Dark Places where the living Should Not Go. The Older Gods own Silent Hill now. The Mark is in Effect. The first Sinners have been called. But…something defies the God. Something with HIS power. Alessa lives. 

My mind is slipping away…the monster in me is taking over. I can't stop this bleeding anymore. Why can't I stop the bleeding? Where's all this blood coming from? Is it my blood? Harry left me. Or is it Kaufman's? He's next to me, you see. His body anyway. His soul has long gone…to the torments he deserves, yes yes yes. I can hear it screaming when I try really hard. But he's not alone, no no. The town is with him. We're all with him…all those who maintained the silence for him.

I'm not Lisa. I was never Lisa. I was a puppet with Lisa's memories, and now I'm falling apart. I don't like this. Was I just Lisa, or was I just her memories? The memories of a dead woman? Do memories equal soul? Do I have a soul for the town to torment? Even now the God grows stronger. He's changing the town too, and not just like before. It's not just twisting into an evil world. Its…growing. New things appear. I know there were never there before, but they are now. And I remember them. Have I just gone mad? I was never Lisa. Is this a puppet or a Harry left me person talking? I'm scarred…

I can see them all, now. They're walking. They're changing too. There's the head nurse. She changed first, you see, because she was the most important one to the Cult. She doesn't even look human too. Their lumps are going away, and then they become something else. A lot of the nurses from the other hospital are like that, almost all of them. But they change. No one loves me. New thinks keep appearing and going away again. There all in people's minds, you see? Its all what you see in your head that makes you see with your eyes. Why aren't I changing? I'm like them. 

I know how to leave the hospital now…but I don't want to. I'm home. Why did I want to leave? To find Harry? He left me. But to escape you just have to get to the other end of this hallway. But the doors locked. It's easy to open though. All you have to do is walk as far into this room I am now as you can into a forest, and then race the hospital staff. If they catch you, you join them, do you see?

It's hard to write now…blood's everywhere. I know what I am now. I'm free. Harry will come back. Harry will care for me. I'm free.

Shaking his head, Mercurius took the book from his friend and put it next to…whatever it was. "Sleep well. You're free now."  
Zanatos looked around. "We have another riddle. Care to answer it?"  
The other marine smiled. "I already know. How far can you walk into a forest, Zanatos?"

Even as the monsters head burst through the metal wall, Knight fired. A noticeable dint appeared in the things steel, triangle helmet. Knight's gun wasn't the most accurate in the world, but the slugs it fired packed one hell of a punch.  
But Pyramid Head didn't even slow down. More and more of the wall was torn asunder as it forced its way into the Chief's room, Knight screaming at it to stop. Ordering it to stop. Another slug bounced of the helmet, causing another dent. This time it paused and looked at Knight with those hidden eyes. What could be hidden underneath something like that?  
With a crunch it was through. The sword cut down, sliced into the ground. The steel grate it stood on remained firm, but deep below Sara could see…something. Fire. Something burned.  
Knight lowered his aim and fired a round into its leg. Bright blood splashed across the floor in a stream of crimson, and yet it kept on walking anyway. Sara could see it more clearly than before. It wore some kind of apron, and it was almost camouflaged with the surroundings…it was covered in what she knew must be dry blood. "Knight, let us loose! We can help!"  
The fake cop didn't even answer, just tried to shoot the advancing behemoth in the heart. It almost staggered, but then kept on coming. Knight was slowly pressed up against the wall…and couldn't dodge when the slash came. The cut was aimed at his stomach, a long, heavy arc. Pulling in his stomach saved Knight life…instead of spewing his guts across the floor, it just sliced him lightly. But the man screamed all the same, and staggered away. The Pyramid Head's helmet followed, and it sent the next over head blow to where he would soon be…

Zanatos looked at his friend like he was starting to loose it. "How big a forest?"  
The smaller Marine was already walking, though. "Doesn't matter…because the exact distance you can walk into any forest is…" he stopped dead centre of the room. "Half way. Then you're walking out again."  
Something clicked. And from the direction of the lift something shrieked [Fresh souls to hunt!], or maybe it was several something's.  
Zanatos grabbed Merc, who winced and clutched his ribs, and dragged him out the room. "Run! I think we got a race on our hands!"  
The two men, both injured, ran around the corner. Even as they turned it, Mercurius looked back and saw something terrible, screaming and howling and laughing and giggling as it came. Both men nearly ran into the door at a dead run. Zanatos immediately dropped down a little and began to mess with the door, his hands shaking. Quickly Mercurius stood back and kicked out. The rusted monster screamed in protest, but opened anyway. "It's getting closer!"  
They charged down the black corridor, lights swinging wildly from side to side. Doors flashed past, barely seen, barely noticed as the two Marine's ran like the demons of hell were after them…something that may well be the case.  
Suddenly Zanatos stumbled and fell, his shotgun clattering to the floor. Mercurius stopped and looked around. He could see it clearly now. It was a jumbled mass of darkness, far darker than the area around it, which was just black with lack of light. Sometimes a shape, human maybe, would come to the front and screamed in that unholy agony. He looked at the door. So close…maybe ten feet. "Zan! We're close!"  
"Its closer." Zanatos hadn't even tried to get up. Instead he reached for the shotgun. And he began to fire. If anything happened, Mercurius couldn't see it. "Help me Merc! We can stop this thing!"  
Mercurius looked at the thing. Zan fired again. Did it flinch? Did it slow down? He couldn't tell. He tried to raise his gun, but he couldn't. Instead he turned and ran. "Merc?" he heard his friend call as he ran. "Where are you, buddy? I need help here" The door opened under Mercurius' shaking hands. "Merc? Help me! Help me!"  
The lift was there, alight, waiting. Mercurius turned and saw Zanatos staring at him, his eyes dead. "Merc! Save me! Mercurius!"  
He wanted to help his friend. His oldest friend. His true friend. But he ran. He hit the button to the ground floor. And he heard the screams as the thing reached Zanatos. He screamed for help. He screamed for Mercurius. He screamed his friends name over and over…until it was gone. And the screaming stopped.  
Then Mercurius sank to the floor of the elevator and he cried. "I'm sorry Zan…I'm so very, very sorry…forgive me."


	9. Open Your Eyes

Chapter 9 – Open Your Eyes

The lift stopped with a jerk. His eyes red and tears still coating his face, Mercurius stood and walked to the doors, which opened all on there own. This hospital…it was alive. The essence of the people who had lived and worked and died here infused it. Just like the police station. Just like the school.  
Mercurius walked out into the hallway. He had no idea where he was…nowhere he'd been before. It felt…deep. Like he was under the ground. He couldn't remember if the lift had gone up, or down, or how long it had been moving. Other things had occupied his mind.  
The air tasted of darkness and death. Even more than the rest of the town. Something had happened down here…where it had all begun. Yes, Mercurius somehow knew this was where the start had been. This was the birthplace of the Silent Hill he'd become trapped in, lost, hopeless. The stench of death was so strong it couldn't be mistaken. Something terrible had been started here.  
He slowly walked forwards. A man, lost in a dream, that was all he was now. Or what he wished to be. To escape this misery, this living nightmare. If only he could be certain death was really a release…  
A presence to his left made Mercurius come back to life. Thoughts of welcoming death were banished by years of ingrained training, pointing at the dark figure that had already vanished. Mercurius frowned…it had been familiar, that presence, so familiar and yet impossible to place.  
There were doors, he realised, in this small place beneath the hospital. Some where behind him…perhaps he'd walked through one? He couldn't remember doing it, but that didn't mean he hadn't. He placed his hand on a door…and immediately pulled it away. The agonised sobbing of a little girl had come through that door. Mercurius' hand went for the handle, but it was locked.   
Anger rose inside of him, blooming like a dark and terrible flower. A huge, psychotic kick slammed against the door, which looked some kind of wood with decomposing paint. It rattled, but budged not an inch. With a primeval scream of rage Mercurius dropped his gun and pulled out the length of pipe he'd used to kill the winged demon, and began to slam it against the door. He'd let his best friend die…he would not let a child die too, alone, in this darkness…not if it meant his life.  
With a groan the door slowly opened. Brandishing the pipe with both hands, Mercurius charged.  
And stopped. It was a room, a hospital room. Like the rest of the hospital it was destroyed, tainted in this dark world. A blood soaked bed and bandages, covered in blood and other strange liquids Mercurius didn't even want to describe were all that remained…and a chest of some kind. A drip, empty, lay on its side. He noticed a picture frame…his hands trembling the Ex-Marine picked it up.  
It was empty, the picture burnt away.  
The voices made him turn. The dead nurse, the one called Lisa, was bent over the bed with a girl. The girl was wrapped head too foot in bandages, and had a jacket on…Kaufman's jacket, it looked like. It was the same as the suit he wore at least. Both figures were insubstantial.  
The nurse bent down further. "Alessa? Can you hear me?"  
The girl replied with a vague mumbling, only a few words of which Mercurius could make out. "Father…burn…contain…"  
"Shush, sweetie. You're going to be OK, you understand?"  
"In me…send it away…stop…God."  
"Send what away?"  
"Myself."  
The scene faded away as Mercurius tried to look better at the burnt woman. He couldn't make her out…not quite.  
Finally he left the room, and picked up his rifle. Something creaked…and the door opposite him opened. Slowly he walked inside, rifle raised and ready.  
The shadowy figure of a doctor and a woman Mercurius didn't recognise were standing together, in front of a dead body that certainly was real. From what Mercurius could understand of it, these shadows from the past were there as the figure that hung there now was dying…he could hear its screams. It was dried out and barely recognisable in this time, but he could see it would have been a true giant of a man when it had been alive. Now, however, its arms were spread wide and its limbs were missing, while being trapped inside some kind of…cage-like device.  
Suddenly the woman spoke. "Will this one provide enough power for the summoning?"  
The doctor's form nodded. "Yes. This one was a warrior, but he resented his death. His spirit will linger much longer than we should need."  
"Good…we have no need for week souls. Only the strong can call forth the God and bring our salvation!"  
"What about Kaufman?"  
"He is no longer useful to us. Soon none of this will matter anymore, for Paradise will be born."  
Once again the figures slowly faded away, and now Mercurius noticed something else on the corpse. Its chest had been pealed open by some kind of explosion…a high-powered rifle slug, maybe, at close range. But a pair of shiny metal dog tags hung around its neck…Mercurius slowly looked at them. They were untainted by the foul corruption of the rest of this place. The Ex-Marine could feel something…someone…behind him, but he had to look at the name first. His eyes widened in horror as he read those terrible dog tags.  
It said: Zanatos Kell.  
Mercurius turned and ran as his friend's long decomposed eyes watched him, unseeing, uncaring.   
  
Knight jerked back fast and the sword blow cut into the metal grate yet again. The fake cop was fumbling with a clip, trying to reload his gun before the monster split him down the middle.  
The office was a mess. The fight was still going after about five minutes. Knight was bleeding from a dozen nicks and cuts, but the Pyramid Head was in just as bad a state, oozing blood from any number of wounds, its helmet dinted and ruined. It seemed even this unholy dreadnaught of destruction could be slowed down and hurt…however, if it could be killed was another question, still unanswered.  
Sara screamed as another huge blow sliced the air right in front, and a piece of that corrupted shot up and slashed her cheek, razor sharp and vicious. Pyramid Head was ignoring the woman, for now, to face the fat cop with the gun who was doing his best to kill him.  
"Get out of my town!" Another bullet from the Desert Eagle slammed into Pyramid Head, and then Knight jumped back and dodged from that terribly overhead blow. "This is my town…I take what I want, I took this job, I took those woman, and you ain't gonna take it all away from you piece of shit!"  
Without warning the monster did something it hadn't done before, and thrust the huge bladed sword forwards. Knight screamed as it sliced deep into the arm already injured by the battle with the nurses, and screaming with rage and pain still, he emptied the clip into his tormentor. And to one side of Sara Cheryl said, "Stop." And to the other Alessa said, "Die."  
The monster stopped, and the siren called out. It looked around, and then slowly placed the huge sword on the ground, then moved it up so the long blade was pointing into the sky. Then, with a harsh cry [Relief. My torment has ended] it hurled itself upon the sword.  
Knight stood, panting, trying to regain his breath. "Hah! I won! It's my town now, and no one can take it from me."  
"Never be sure of anything. Not in Silent Hill."  
Mercurius was slumped against the doorway, Rifle held in one hand but rock steady. It light was off, but the laser was aimed right at Knight's heart. The man looked down, saw the red dot that promised his death if he didn't co-operate, and looked up again. "Merc, old buddy, it was all a mistake…"  
"Yes, it was. Throw the gun down, Knight. And the SAA too. You won't need them any more. Oh, you might as well drop your ammo too."  
Grudgingly, the cop dropped the stuff as he was told. "So are you going to kill me? Or leave me for those monsters to kill?"   
The Ex-Marine bent down and picked up the stuff, and threw a pocketknife to Sara. "It's too late for either of those, I'm afraid. You're a killer and a rapist of men, woman and children. You've been condemned." He slowly put down the rifle and picked up the SAA. "Rifle was empty. I didn't have time to reload. This one's for the needle, Sheriff."  
The gunpoint came up...but only to Knight's knee. Then Mercurius pulled the trigger. Click! Nothing happened. Knight grinned. "Looks like that one's empty too." He pulled a small, snub-nosed Mauser from behind his back. "This one ain't though. Last requests? Its nearly time for you to cry."  
Mercurius pulled the trigger again. Again, just a click. The white haired man looked at the gun, and smiled. "There's a song, one you might have heard of."  
"Oh?" Sara watched on, unable to do anything as the insane man slowly raised that gun to Mercurius' chest. The grin on his face spoke eloquently of death. "Which song is that?"  
"Click Click Boom." Mercurius pulled the trigger again.  
The fat man flew, his gun flying away and glittering into the darkness. He staggered back to the wall, blood spreading from the hole in his shoulder, and he slumped to the floor. His eyes, now small and vicious like some small predator, glared at Mercurius as he helped Alessa to her feet, his back turned. His mouth opened, to threaten? To curse? Who knows, now? Something was impatient of waiting. Behind him, Knight heard children laughing…  
Mercurius pulled Cheryl to her feet and cut her ropes too. "We better go before they get here. This isn't going to pretty." He moved fast, grabbing anything of use while Knight looked back over his shoulder, his mad eyes terrified.  
And so they were outside before Knight started to scream. 

They'd gone and left him. Everyone left him in the end. But that didn't matter…nothing mattered to Knight. He stood up and looked around, trying to see where those laughing children were. Children laughing…he'd always hated that noise. They'd made fun of him when he was a kid. And so he'd made then cry when he was all grown up.  
Something in the corner of his sight startled him, and he turned. Nothing. But he could have sworn…he could have sworn he'd seen a little girl. The first one he'd made cry. The first one he'd killed.  
There! He span, and again there was nothing. It was always just out of sight, just a little too fast for him to see. "Where are you…? Who are you?!" Those eyes, full of insanity, hunted the room, looking for the laughing. And all the time it grew noisier and more terrible.  
The fake cop shuffled in a slow circle, searching, shouting at the children to show themselves. The laughter grew with each moment, until finally Knight screamed and fell to his knee's, folding his hands over his ears and ignoring the pain that screamed from his shoulder.  
And then it stopped.  
Knight opened one eye, and looked around. Nothing. He was safe. And then a hand clapped around his mouth and his eyes went wide. It was only a little hand, a girls hand, but it was like a steal clamp. And then she whispered the words he always said before he hurt someone. "Now its your turn to cry."

Someway away from the Station, Mercurius wasn't sure where, they stopped. Everything was black, but in one direction he could hear noises and see some kind of light. People? Survivors? A new kind of monster they hadn't come across yet? He didn't know, and he was too tired to care. It seemed so long since he and Zan had walked into this town…Zan…  
"Where's Zan?" He looked up, into the wide eyes of Cheryl. A glance told him those of Alessa and Sara were on him too. Boring into him, those accusing eyes, seeing what he had done…  
"He's dead. There was something in the hospital, and we had to run, and he fell…I couldn't save him. I tried, but I was too scared…" He fell to his knees, dropping his reloaded rifle and sobbed into his hands. "I heard him screaming, begging me to come back, but I couldn't."  
Sara knelt next to him, hugged him to her even as the tears came to her eyes too. The two girls stood, silent and watching, but Sara thought she saw something in their eyes. Alessa pulled the huge black coat Zanatos had lent her closer around her, as if trying to get some of the warmth, some of the spark of life that Zan had possessed from it.  
"Jeez…you all look like someone just died."  
They all turned to look as the towering figure of Zanatos Kell limped out of the darkness. "Where's that fuck nut Knight? I have words to say to him and a shotgun to ram up his anal passage way so I can blow his guts out."  
Sara shrieked and flew to hug him, even as Mercurius looked at his friend in complete amazement. "I…heard you. I heard you screaming. I heard you die. And…in the basement…"  
Zanatos grinned as he patted Sara's shoulder. "Must have been the monster…I sure as hell ain't dead yet. I dunno what happened though…I woke up about a mile North of here, shotgun next to me, that great sword stuck in the floor. Don't ask me how I got there. But I did get me some more ammo…whoo, I love bullets."  
Like a man in a dream, Mercurius slowly walked up to him…and pinched his friends exposed arms. Zan blinked, and then smacked him on the side of the head. "I ain't dead yet fool. Stop with the pinching already…sheesh."  
And then the huge man was engulfed in a whirlwind of people as everyone tried to hug him, even Mercurius, and they were all talking and laughing and grinning. So that was why none of them saw the monster lurch out of the darkness until it was almost too late.  
It was huge, and its four limbs had a spidery appearance to them. How something so huge and of such a sickening yellow colour could of moved up on them unawares is a mystery. But it was almost on the group, looming out of the shadows, when they finally saw it. It was Alessa who screamed the warning, but it was Zanatos who took action.  
Using those huge, gorilla like arms, Zanatos literally hurled everyone away from him…and the monster. And then the shotgun came up and spat death. The huge yellow thing slowed its advance, and that gave Zanatos time to move before it could strike.   
Mercurius, stunned by the fall he'd just taken and the sheer brute power that Zanatos had just shown, fired of a snap shot that went wide of its mark, and tried to get to his feet. The SAA, Mauser and Eagle were all in his belt, so the woman couldn't fight unless he got a gun to them. He started to move towards them while lining his powerful rifle up for another shot…this time at what he thought was the things head.  
With a fierce grin Zanatos kept on firing into the thing as he backed away, his huge shotgun ripping vast chunks from the slow moving beast as it lumbered after him. It was taller than him by a good foot, but too slow to catch him. He could see what he figured were probably ribs exposed in its chest now. Finally a round slammed into the side of its skull…making it turn to see what was attacking it. Unfortunately the first thing it saw was Sara hugging to the two younger women to her, and it began to advance on them.  
And then Mercurius was in front of her, handing her a gun…the big Desert Eagle Knight had used. "Shoot!"  
Letting the girls go, she raised it in both hands…and fired. The round exploded through the thing, staggering it, but nearly blowing Sara clean off her feet.. And then Zanatos was there, running, swinging that huge sword…and he sliced all the way through its neck.  
Even as the thing slumped, Sara lowered the gun. "Zan…your leg…"  
But Zanatos was looking at something else. Alessa and Cheryl were both glowing, and around them the strange Marks that Sara knew to be the Mark of Samael had formed and were glowing too. Lightning of many different colours flared and sparked between the two. Out of the terrible, death-ridden air that was as still as the monster's fallen body a wind suddenly shrieked out of the blackness, nearly knocking Sara over. Over its screeching she heard Zanatos yell something about running, getting away from the terrible pair of girls…and then a bolt of lighting snapped away and struck her in the chest, and the darkness swallowed Sara.


	10. Mercurius, Part I

Chapter 10 – Mercurius, Part I

With a grunt Mercurius sat up, and looked around sharply. He was back in the real world. Looked like it was nighttime now. It was black, at least. With no idea where he was, Mercurius turned and looked around him.  
Behind him there was a bar. It seemed to be the only thing in town that still had power, because its neon sign flashed the name "Heaven's Night." It looked like he was in some kind of car park. Slowly Mercurius walked inside, rifle raised.  
Music greeted his ears…it sounded like something Zanatos would of listened to. However, even Mercurius recognised Smells Like Teen Spirit by Nirvana.  
Walking further in, he recognised that the place had probably been a strip joint. He'd been in enough over the years. It was all part of being a professional soldier…you took comfort where you could. If he thought about it, he could probably remember a dozen or so clubs just with the same name as this one.   
What really caught his interest was the man sitting, gently sipping a class full of black liquid and with a bottle of Smirnoff Vodka next to him. He was pretty big, maybe 6ft 3 or 4 inches, and looked out of shape. There was a pump action Remington shotgun next to him, and he was wearing a pair of faded denim jeans with a black T-shirt. As he heard Mercurius he raised his head and looked around, revealing tired green eyes and auburn hair. "What can I do for you? Care for a drink? Since there's no staff I guess its free…just as well, really, since I haven't got any money."  
Mercurius paused, uncertain. The man's accent was…strange. A mixture of American, British and several other countries all mixed up. "How are you still alive?"  
The man, obviously young, but with ancient eyes took another sip. "I redeemed myself. Paid for my sins, proved I wasn't the piece of shit I thought I was. Looks like I get to leave with my life, if not my sanity, and plenty of nightmares."  
Slowly Mercurius sank into the stool next to him. "How did you get here? What happened to you? What's going on in this town?"  
In way that suggested he was badly in need of sleep and probably less vodka, the man reached behind the counter and pulled out a glass. "All good questions, which I'll answer as well as I can over a drink. Trust me, my friend, you'll need it."  
Taking the glass, Mercurius poured himself a double shot of tequila. "OK…now, tell me, what's going on here."  
The man sighed and slumped slightly. "I dunno, to be blunt about it." He held up a hand before Mercurius could protest. "But bare with me, and I'll tell you what I know.  
"OK…I'll start at the beginning, I suppose. I was travelling across America to meet some friends of mine from the Internet, when the coach I was on ran into a spot of bother. Basically, the engine blew up. We crashed, and I hit my head pretty good. When I came too, everyone was gone. Dazed as I was, I figured something was pretty wrong with this scenario. I staggered into town, and found this gun. And then I got attacked. It was like a dog that had been skinned, but was still alive. Well…I killed that. Kind of. I'm not sure if the things you kill around here really die, or what. So…I went looking through town. I can't really tell you much about what happened to me, because it won't help, and I can't remember a lot of it anymore. But I met some other people, too. Some weren't real, and some were dead and didn't know it yet.  
"Anyway…after a long time, I fought off my demons. Proved I wanted to be free of my sins, and that I felt remorse for what I'd done. It took a lot too. I'm still not entirely sure if I'm alive and dreaming or dead and remembering, as the song says.  
"And that answers, as much as I can, how I got here and what happened to me…as to what this place is? I think I can help you some there. See, Silent Hill has been here a long, long time…maybe not called Silent Hill, but something has always been here. Some things, too. Demons, I guess you could call them. They've influenced the events of this town for centuries…when there was a prison here, they made the guards cruel and vindictive, killing their victims by skewering them with a spear."  
The green-eyed man drained his glass with a single gulp and poured himself another before continuing. Mercurius got the impression he'd had a lot of them before he'd even arrived.  
"The people of this town were there agents, not all, but more than not. There was a cult that was trying to raise one of the more powerful demons…actually, he's an Elder God or something. Don't ask, I don't know. I think the managed it, but something went wrong and now the thing they called is in control. For some reason its influence isn't spreading very far, but it does have complete control of the town, that's for sure."  
Mercurius looked at him. "Why us? Why me, and you, and my friends? Why have we been called here? Why is this happening to us?"  
"Because, my friend, we're all sinners with a dark past. This town is now a place of trial. If you can repent your sins just enough, you can go. If you can't…you join this place."  
"The town will kill us?"  
"Much, much worse."  
"You said you'd redeemed yourself…if you've completed these…trials, why have you still got the shotgun?"  
The man looked blankly at the gun lying on the bar. "Oh, yes, that. I've spent a long time in this town…seems like months, but its probably just a day or so. Somehow, I very much doubt I'll ever do anything without that shotgun again."  
The man suddenly stood up and picked up the shotgun. "My sin was I couldn't save her…I don't know what yours is, but you will when you remember." He started walking towards the club's door.  
Mercurius stood up and called out, "Who are you?"  
"Me? I'm just a guy who wants to see his friends and loved ones one last time…and I have the chance now." Then he stepped out the door.  
Mercurius rushed after him, and looked out…into new version of the hell world, one that looked a city after a nuke had gone off. Everything was…black and burnt, and ash rained down from the sky like some kind of black snow.  
Of the man with green eyes, there was no evidence he'd even existed.


End file.
